December 27, 2024 • 16 mins
JJ Stankevitz and Casey Vallier talk through the latest injury update on quarterback Anthony Richardson, whose availability is in question for the Colts' Week 17 game against the New York Giants. The guys look at what Joe Flacco could bring to a vital game for the Colts' playoff chances if he does start, and also chat through some other injury updates ahead of Sunday.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
What's up? Everyone? Welcome into another episode of the Two
Minute Drill podcast, presented by Nerd walat Play Smart Finance Harder.
I'm JJ Sankabit's joined today by my friend Casey Valier.
Case we're talking to Colts at Giants in week seventeen
and without further ado. The news of Friday is actually
that there is no news right regarding Anthony Richardson, who
(00:27):
did not practice at all this week as he's dealing
with back and foot injuries. However, the Colts on Friday
did not rule out Richardson for Sunday's game. Case Shane
Stiken said Anthony Richardson could play even though he is
not practiced this week. It sounds like the next forty
eight hours are going to be big for determining if
(00:48):
Richardson is ready to go and able to play against
the Giants on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yeah, it's interesting to me because I think you could
tell me if you've got the similar vibe. What I
got from what Shane said today was we are being,
you know, cautious about his injury. It's not that the
injury is making it so that he cannot participate. It
is kind of you know, playing more on the making
sure that he is good to go instead of rushing
(01:14):
him out there. So I'll be very anxious to see what,
you know, what Saturday looks like, because we're I think
we're going to have a good idea, you know, twenty
four hours from now, right, it's going to look.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Like that's usually when in case the Colts, if they
do have an update to the injury report, it will
come out Saturday, probably around one o'clock or so, between
noon and one. So that's a good point to keep
an eye out from that.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, And I mean, ultimately, you know, Joe Flacco is
a veteran quarterback, so if you have to go that route,
you know, Joe Flacco has been in these situations. He's
played inside MetLife Stadium numerous times. He was a quarterback
for the Jets back in the day. So, I mean,
and all the weather and all of that that's going
to play into this weekend looks like it's going to
be very similar to actually what they practiced in today
here in Indianapolis. Kind of a rainy, mid forties day.
(01:57):
So all of that will we'll have to you know,
kind of see with the next forty eight hours look like.
But I think it is a good sign that he
didn't rule anybody out.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Today right that I would agree with that. So here's
what Shane Stiken said about Anthony Richardson today. He said,
he's quote really sore coming off of the game last
weekend against the Titans. He ran at nine times in
that game. He gained seventy yards. You know, he only
threw eleven passes. He scrambled a couple of times in there.
There wasn't a specific moment, Shane said, where Anthony got hurt.
(02:26):
It was just he kind of came in he was
really sore. Right now. I want to I do want
to kind of dispel this for all for our listeners,
is that this is the cults are saying, Anthony, you're
not practicing today. This is not Anthony Richardson saying I'm
too sort of practice. This is the team saying it
is not in your best interest or the best interest
of our team for you to practice today.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I want to dispel this because I've seen some chatter
on social media that Anthony's the one who's kinda that
that's not the case on this at all. And I
will hand up say if Anthony Richardson could play, he will,
and I think that's why he's not ruled out today. Correct.
He and the Colts still believe there is a chance
(03:08):
he can go out and play.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
And I thought we we kind of got that when
we talked to Anthony this week. It was almost like, yeah,
I'm sore, but everybody sore this time. So I agree.
I'm glad that you brought that up, because I think
it definitely is more on the Colts end being hey,
let's make sure that everything is good because sometimes, you know,
we said this, you know a while back about Michael Pittman. Luckily,
(03:32):
nothing has you know, transpired in the back with Pittman.
But it's like he's going to continue to play because
that's who he is. That's the kind of and and
I would say Anthony falls into the similar mold, like, hey,
he wants every rep. Everybody you know, all this chatter about,
you know, Anthony needs the reps. Anthony's the first one
to tell you that he wants those reps. So he's
not at all saying, hey, I just want to take
(03:53):
a back seat to this at all.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Especially in the game that matters like that that probably
will matter. The Colts need some things to break their
way on Saturday Day for that to be the case.
So all right, if Anthony Richardson cannot play, though, it
will be Joe Flacco case. You and I just had
a chance to catch up with Joe in the Colts
locker room. Always just like a fountain of wisdom, yes,
in these moments, but you know, he talked about kind
(04:17):
of appreciating the backup role a little bit more, and
how during most of his career it's been hey, you're
the starter, and you don't even have to think about it, right,
but now you're you're the backup. You're kind of you're
up and down in this week. Now you're up potentially.
So I thought, you know, his approach is good, his
wisdom is good, and I mean, look, I know the
last couple of starts he had before Anthony got back
(04:38):
in there did not go very well. I want to
give a little bit of credit here and that those
came against the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills, two teams
who they.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Could be in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Legit that that could be a Super Bowl preview, that
could absolutely the New York Giants are in line to
get the number one overall. Correct this is a different
type of opponent that the Colts would be playing on Sunday.
So look, I think he's a guy who if you
need him to start, he can steer the ship to
where you need it to go in a game that
(05:08):
you should win. Like, let's be honest, correct, especially if
the Broncos are Chargers lose on Saturday, then this game
means Colts win it. There's some heat on either of
those teams, with both of those teams going into Week eighteen,
I like that Flacco would be the guy in this game.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And that's we all know. That's why you bring him
in here, right, this is this is the situation.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
You didn't bring him in to bench Anthony Richardson and
have him start against two of the best teams in
the NFL.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Absolutely not. And that's that's so true, because this is
this is why you have that guy as your backup,
because I would say, over the last couple of years,
it has been just a carousel, revolving door, whatever you
want to call it, throughout the NFL, and you're seeing
these teams not have the backups in place to keep
(05:51):
you in these games, and the Colts have the last
two years. Give him a lot of credit with what
they did last year with Gardner Minshew and what they're
doing this year Joe Flacco. You have guys that are
more than competent to go in there and give you
a chance. And that's that's all you're looking for in
your backup quarterback. You don't want it to be like, well,
it doesn't matter with Joe Flacco. It still matters. It
(06:14):
gives you the chance.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Like quarterback record is usually kind of this like a
stat that doesn't tell you a whole lot when it
comes to a starter. For me, when it's a backup quarterback,
if that guy wins you a game, that's great. If
you win or even if he doesn't win you a game,
if you win a game with him starting, that's all
that matters, because, like you said, case, you're you're just
trying to get through the week, you're trying to win
(06:36):
the game. You're just trying to you know, get a
steady hand in there. And I think that all is
so important to what Joe Flacco can bring you. Again,
the games that Joe Flacco started for the Colts or
came in prior to when Richardson got benched, came off
the bench against the Steelers, he steered that ship to
the shore. The Jaguars game, that loss was not his fault.
(06:56):
I mean that was the trendis quarter rating in his
entire career in that game.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
And then the Titans game was one of those where okay,
may not have been pretty, but he steered the ship
to shore. A wins win. A win's a win. He
made that one play to Pittman, that's all that they needed.
They came out with win that That game against Tennessee
is more like what you want to see. Right. If
this game gets sloppy and it's a twenty three to
twenty type game, but the Colts win it, who cares
(07:22):
how it looks? Exactly if you're playing for something in
week eighteen, because Joe Flacco got you there, that's all
that matters.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah, And that's and that's all you're looking for. I
mean that that is it. If you were to talk
to Shane stike in right now and you said, hey, look,
Joe Flacco is going to start on Sunday and you're
gonna win by six. He's gonna go perfect, right because
eighteen now matters and that's all that's all you need.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Yep a couple other injury updates here case Alec Pierce
has not cleared concussion protocol yet, but Shane stike and
said it looks good. Yes, he's a guy. You'd love
to have him back for this game, just with what
he can do downfield against a Giants defense that has
struggled right across the board. That would be wonder if
you could get Alec back he is able to clear protocol,
you'd have to clear up by tomorrow. I believe maybe
(08:03):
he could clear it by Sunday. He might be able
to clear it. Yeah, yeah, hopefully, hopefully you get Alec
to clear it and you get him back Sunday. Again,
Shane Stiken said, it looks good with Pierce, but that's
not a guarantee.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
And there's a part of me that says, for let's
say it is Flacco on Sunday, you would want the
full arsenal in the receiver room because more than likely,
what what Anthony gives you in the run game, no
offense to Joe he's not gonna get gonna be the same.
So it changes the dynamic in that run game. And
if you can get Alec Pierce, who tip of the
(08:34):
cap to Alec I mean, you talk about a wonderful
year he has put together. He has shown that he
is more than just the vertical threat. But I think
in that what he has done in that vertical threat game,
he is elevated even up to another level. So I
think if you can get a guy like Alec Pierce
back to have that full arsenal for Joe Flacco or
Anthony of course, but that would be a big help
(08:56):
down the stretch because you know what Ad did last
year and that last week and that great catch kind
of filling in in that role wonderful. Yeah, but Alex
has kind of proven it throughout the year that he
is he's a guy that you can rely on and
he's gonna, you know, he's gonna do the dirty work.
He can do all that stuff, and he's just a
very reliable player. So you'd love to see Pierce back
in the lineup for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Juju Brentz participated in practice all week. Shane Steiken said,
will see on him, so that may be a little
more cautious. Juju still is on ir with the knee
injury he sustained in Week one. The Colt still would
have to activate him off of injured reserve to the
fifty three for him to play, but maybe a chance
this weekend. I don't know. I mean the weather in
(09:37):
New York looks like he might be a little sloppy.
I don't know if. And and the other thing is
when when Juju does come back, whether it's this week
or next week, because I think he probably will correct
this year barring a setback, I don't know what his
role quite is gonna be. I mean, Sammy Wollmax playing
some good football right now. You're not taking Jalen Jones
off the field, and obviously Kenny Moore, the second Y Moore,
He's gonna play every single snap. So I wonder what
(10:00):
Juju's role might be given you're getting decent play out
of the cornerbacks. That's just something to keep an eye
on it. You'd love to have him back as really
good depth. Maybe he maybe you rotate him with Womack
a little bit, but at the very least, I think
when he went down back in Week one, you're thinking,
here we go, like, yeah, this cornerback situation is going
to be rough this year. Cornerback has not been the problem. No,
(10:23):
it's called team at all that they've gotten really good
play out of Jalen Jones. You've seen Sammy Wollmack have
some good moments in there, Like it's been good from
the corners.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I agree, And I think part of and this is
you'd love to see him play in a game, But
I think it has been so beneficial for Juju to
just get.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Back in practice. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah, And I'm not saying that the reason that they
open the window was that he could get three weeks
of practice and not play, and ultimately that that may
be what happens if he doesn't get activated. He's still
gets three weeks of practice in But I think that
is so beneficial for him because you think about all
all of the time that he has missed. I mean,
it was essentially since he was drafted here he had
(11:04):
a wrist and it was a hamstring, then last year
he had I mean, it has been so many injuries.
So you just want to be able to see him
just getting those reps. So that's what I think has
been the most beneficial thing for him over the last
you know, week and change, being able to get back
into just playing football, whether it's practice. We'd love to
see him activated, but I think you bring up the
(11:24):
weather conditions, and that is one thing coming off of
a knee with nasty you know what looks to be rainy,
and you know, you may don't want to push that
because you would hate to see him re injure something
or overcompensate for something, and it happened. So you know,
being cautious with Juju, I think is pivotal because I
(11:45):
think another thing that would be massive for him is
to go into the offseason healthy and being able to do,
you know, be able to have everything at his disposal
to do to get better on this. He got hurt, right, yes,
So it's I think that all of that, the reps
that he's getting in practice, cannot be overlooked as a
very beneficial thing for Juju.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
On the other side, the New York Giants, it sounds
like Tyrone Tracy and Melik Neighbors are gonna give it
a go yes on Sunday. Those are I think New
York's two best offensive players. Just you know, Tyrone Tracy's
the running back is a local kid. Milik Neighbors, I believe,
is nine receptions away from breaking Pokinakua's rookie record for receptions.
So those are those are important players to keep an
(12:27):
eye on, and then Drew Locke is going to go
for the Giants.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah. I mean we talked about on our podcast on Thursday,
and it was essentially if the Giants were to beat
the Colts, why and it's Melik Neighbors. Offensively, Tyrone Tracy
goes into that, and then defensively, you got guys like
Brian Burns and Caveon Thibodeau who are really good up front,
but you talk about Neighbors and Tracy. I mean, I've
(12:50):
been very surprised at how successful his rookie season has gone. Yeah,
because I don't know necessarily what role they envisioned him being.
I think they thought Devin single Harry's going to be
our feature back. Tracy's kind of that secondary guy. But
he's really filled a nice role for the Giants. I mean,
he's just a handful of yards away from a thousand
(13:10):
scrimmage yards on the year. He had a nice role
with Purdue last year. But you know, the local product,
it'd be cool to see him play. There's also Mike
and McFadden, the linebacker who is an IU product. We
also Bobby o'caake. We won't see since he went on
IR so it was like all this local flavor. They
all got either injury designations or you don't know if
they're gonna play, So it will be kind of cool
(13:31):
to see a couple of those guys. But Malik Neighbors,
that's a big name because he is a guy that
I think you can see the talent already on display
even with that revolving door at quarterback they've had in
New York. So he's a tough one. He's one you're
definitely gonna have to look at for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
This is the Giants are two and thirteen. They're on
track to get the number one overall pick. But this
is why whenever people are like, oh yeah, well, like
you know, you know, could Oregon go beat the New
York Giants, No, no, Because the New York Giants have
Dexter Lawrence who would wreck the game on defense. Yes,
I they have Malik Neighbors would wreck the game on offense.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Right.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
So, like, the point is, the Giants still have really
good players on their team. They are having an awful
football season, but you have to take them seriously because
they still have really good players on both sides of
the ball. Both of them can make a play at
any point in this game. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
And the thing I also draw into this too is
they have really good players at impact positions. And that's it.
You know, when you think about the wide receiver position,
you get them. I mean, the Colts fans have seen this.
I mean I remember a handful of years ago. I've
drawn blanking on his name. Guy from West Virginia played
with the Rams. Tavon Austin von Austin. Okay, this is
(14:39):
a handful of years ago. The Colts saw a terrible
Rams team come in here and Tavon Austin. I'm convinced
that that's the reason he stuck around because the game
against the Colts, he had like eight catches for over
two hundred yards and a handful of touchdowns and that
was the reason they won. And Thelik Neighbors is that
type of player. He can he can open up a
game very very quickly. So him being there is definitely
(15:01):
something that you cannot take this giant teams lightly because
a guy like that, he can wreck a game very quickly.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
All right, Well, we are gonna have a lot more
to know over the next twenty four hours. Yes, not
just in Anthony Richardson's status. But in what happens in
the Chargers and Patriots game and the Broncos and Bengals
games where the Colts need one of those two teams,
if not both the Chargers, and let's give.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Both of those teams to lose. I'm really looking forward to,
you know what Week eighteen would mean at home against
the Jags, everything on the line. I really want to
see that.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Give me a game that matters in Week eighteen. Absolutely
still again, we will know a lot more over the
next twenty four to forty eight hours about several things,
yes involving the Colts. Thanks for listening to this episode
of the Two Minute Drill podcast presented by Nerd Wallet
here on the Colts Audio Network four Casey Valley, IM
JJ Stankobittz talk to you next week before the Colts
regular season finale against the jacksonvill Jaguars. So long,
What's up? Everyone? Welcome into another episode of the Two
Minute Drill podcast, presented by Nerd walat Play Smart Finance Harder.
I'm JJ Sankabit's joined today by my friend Casey Valier.
Case we're talking to Colts at Giants in week seventeen
and without further ado. The news of Friday is actually
that there is no news right regarding Anthony Richardson, who
(00:27):
did not practice at all this week as he's dealing
with back and foot injuries. However, the Colts on Friday
did not rule out Richardson for Sunday's game. Case Shane
Stiken said Anthony Richardson could play even though he is
not practiced this week. It sounds like the next forty
eight hours are going to be big for determining if
(00:48):
Richardson is ready to go and able to play against
the Giants on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yeah, it's interesting to me because I think you could
tell me if you've got the similar vibe. What I
got from what Shane said today was we are being,
you know, cautious about his injury. It's not that the
injury is making it so that he cannot participate. It
is kind of you know, playing more on the making
sure that he is good to go instead of rushing
(01:14):
him out there. So I'll be very anxious to see what,
you know, what Saturday looks like, because we're I think
we're going to have a good idea, you know, twenty
four hours from now, right, it's going to look.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Like that's usually when in case the Colts, if they
do have an update to the injury report, it will
come out Saturday, probably around one o'clock or so, between
noon and one. So that's a good point to keep
an eye out from that.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Yeah, And I mean, ultimately, you know, Joe Flacco is
a veteran quarterback, so if you have to go that route,
you know, Joe Flacco has been in these situations. He's
played inside MetLife Stadium numerous times. He was a quarterback
for the Jets back in the day. So, I mean,
and all the weather and all of that that's going
to play into this weekend looks like it's going to
be very similar to actually what they practiced in today
here in Indianapolis. Kind of a rainy, mid forties day.
(01:57):
So all of that will we'll have to you know,
kind of see with the next forty eight hours look like.
But I think it is a good sign that he
didn't rule anybody out.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Today right that I would agree with that. So here's
what Shane Stiken said about Anthony Richardson today. He said,
he's quote really sore coming off of the game last
weekend against the Titans. He ran at nine times in
that game. He gained seventy yards. You know, he only
threw eleven passes. He scrambled a couple of times in there.
There wasn't a specific moment, Shane said, where Anthony got hurt.
(02:26):
It was just he kind of came in he was
really sore. Right now. I want to I do want
to kind of dispel this for all for our listeners,
is that this is the cults are saying, Anthony, you're
not practicing today. This is not Anthony Richardson saying I'm
too sort of practice. This is the team saying it
is not in your best interest or the best interest
of our team for you to practice today.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I want to dispel this because I've seen some chatter
on social media that Anthony's the one who's kinda that
that's not the case on this at all. And I
will hand up say if Anthony Richardson could play, he will,
and I think that's why he's not ruled out today. Correct.
He and the Colts still believe there is a chance
(03:08):
he can go out and play.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
And I thought we we kind of got that when
we talked to Anthony this week. It was almost like, yeah,
I'm sore, but everybody sore this time. So I agree.
I'm glad that you brought that up, because I think
it definitely is more on the Colts end being hey,
let's make sure that everything is good because sometimes, you know,
we said this, you know a while back about Michael Pittman. Luckily,
(03:32):
nothing has you know, transpired in the back with Pittman.
But it's like he's going to continue to play because
that's who he is. That's the kind of and and
I would say Anthony falls into the similar mold, like, hey,
he wants every rep. Everybody you know, all this chatter about,
you know, Anthony needs the reps. Anthony's the first one
to tell you that he wants those reps. So he's
not at all saying, hey, I just want to take
(03:53):
a back seat to this at all.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Especially in the game that matters like that that probably
will matter. The Colts need some things to break their
way on Saturday Day for that to be the case.
So all right, if Anthony Richardson cannot play, though, it
will be Joe Flacco case. You and I just had
a chance to catch up with Joe in the Colts
locker room. Always just like a fountain of wisdom, yes,
in these moments, but you know, he talked about kind
(04:17):
of appreciating the backup role a little bit more, and
how during most of his career it's been hey, you're
the starter, and you don't even have to think about it, right,
but now you're you're the backup. You're kind of you're
up and down in this week. Now you're up potentially.
So I thought, you know, his approach is good, his
wisdom is good, and I mean, look, I know the
last couple of starts he had before Anthony got back
(04:38):
in there did not go very well. I want to
give a little bit of credit here and that those
came against the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills, two teams
who they.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Could be in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Legit that that could be a Super Bowl preview, that
could absolutely the New York Giants are in line to
get the number one overall. Correct this is a different
type of opponent that the Colts would be playing on Sunday.
So look, I think he's a guy who if you
need him to start, he can steer the ship to
where you need it to go in a game that
(05:08):
you should win. Like, let's be honest, correct, especially if
the Broncos are Chargers lose on Saturday, then this game
means Colts win it. There's some heat on either of
those teams, with both of those teams going into Week eighteen,
I like that Flacco would be the guy in this game.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And that's we all know. That's why you bring him
in here, right, this is this is the situation.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
You didn't bring him in to bench Anthony Richardson and
have him start against two of the best teams in
the NFL.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Absolutely not. And that's that's so true, because this is
this is why you have that guy as your backup,
because I would say, over the last couple of years,
it has been just a carousel, revolving door, whatever you
want to call it, throughout the NFL, and you're seeing
these teams not have the backups in place to keep
(05:51):
you in these games, and the Colts have the last
two years. Give him a lot of credit with what
they did last year with Gardner Minshew and what they're
doing this year Joe Flacco. You have guys that are
more than competent to go in there and give you
a chance. And that's that's all you're looking for in
your backup quarterback. You don't want it to be like, well,
it doesn't matter with Joe Flacco. It still matters. It
(06:14):
gives you the chance.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Like quarterback record is usually kind of this like a
stat that doesn't tell you a whole lot when it
comes to a starter. For me, when it's a backup quarterback,
if that guy wins you a game, that's great. If
you win or even if he doesn't win you a game,
if you win a game with him starting, that's all
that matters, because, like you said, case, you're you're just
trying to get through the week, you're trying to win
(06:36):
the game. You're just trying to you know, get a
steady hand in there. And I think that all is
so important to what Joe Flacco can bring you. Again,
the games that Joe Flacco started for the Colts or
came in prior to when Richardson got benched, came off
the bench against the Steelers, he steered that ship to
the shore. The Jaguars game, that loss was not his fault.
(06:56):
I mean that was the trendis quarter rating in his
entire career in that game.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
And then the Titans game was one of those where okay,
may not have been pretty, but he steered the ship
to shore. A wins win. A win's a win. He
made that one play to Pittman, that's all that they needed.
They came out with win that That game against Tennessee
is more like what you want to see. Right. If
this game gets sloppy and it's a twenty three to
twenty type game, but the Colts win it, who cares
(07:22):
how it looks? Exactly if you're playing for something in
week eighteen, because Joe Flacco got you there, that's all
that matters.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah, And that's and that's all you're looking for. I
mean that that is it. If you were to talk
to Shane stike in right now and you said, hey, look,
Joe Flacco is going to start on Sunday and you're
gonna win by six. He's gonna go perfect, right because
eighteen now matters and that's all that's all you need.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Yep a couple other injury updates here case Alec Pierce
has not cleared concussion protocol yet, but Shane stike and
said it looks good. Yes, he's a guy. You'd love
to have him back for this game, just with what
he can do downfield against a Giants defense that has
struggled right across the board. That would be wonder if
you could get Alec back he is able to clear protocol,
you'd have to clear up by tomorrow. I believe maybe
(08:03):
he could clear it by Sunday. He might be able
to clear it. Yeah, yeah, hopefully, hopefully you get Alec
to clear it and you get him back Sunday. Again,
Shane Stiken said, it looks good with Pierce, but that's
not a guarantee.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
And there's a part of me that says, for let's
say it is Flacco on Sunday, you would want the
full arsenal in the receiver room because more than likely,
what what Anthony gives you in the run game, no
offense to Joe he's not gonna get gonna be the same.
So it changes the dynamic in that run game. And
if you can get Alec Pierce, who tip of the
(08:34):
cap to Alec I mean, you talk about a wonderful
year he has put together. He has shown that he
is more than just the vertical threat. But I think
in that what he has done in that vertical threat game,
he is elevated even up to another level. So I
think if you can get a guy like Alec Pierce
back to have that full arsenal for Joe Flacco or
Anthony of course, but that would be a big help
(08:56):
down the stretch because you know what Ad did last
year and that last week and that great catch kind
of filling in in that role wonderful. Yeah, but Alex
has kind of proven it throughout the year that he
is he's a guy that you can rely on and
he's gonna, you know, he's gonna do the dirty work.
He can do all that stuff, and he's just a
very reliable player. So you'd love to see Pierce back
in the lineup for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Juju Brentz participated in practice all week. Shane Steiken said,
will see on him, so that may be a little
more cautious. Juju still is on ir with the knee
injury he sustained in Week one. The Colt still would
have to activate him off of injured reserve to the
fifty three for him to play, but maybe a chance
this weekend. I don't know. I mean the weather in
(09:37):
New York looks like he might be a little sloppy.
I don't know if. And and the other thing is
when when Juju does come back, whether it's this week
or next week, because I think he probably will correct
this year barring a setback, I don't know what his
role quite is gonna be. I mean, Sammy Wollmax playing
some good football right now. You're not taking Jalen Jones
off the field, and obviously Kenny Moore, the second Y Moore,
He's gonna play every single snap. So I wonder what
(10:00):
Juju's role might be given you're getting decent play out
of the cornerbacks. That's just something to keep an eye
on it. You'd love to have him back as really
good depth. Maybe he maybe you rotate him with Womack
a little bit, but at the very least, I think
when he went down back in Week one, you're thinking,
here we go, like, yeah, this cornerback situation is going
to be rough this year. Cornerback has not been the problem. No,
(10:23):
it's called team at all that they've gotten really good
play out of Jalen Jones. You've seen Sammy Wollmack have
some good moments in there, Like it's been good from
the corners.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I agree, And I think part of and this is
you'd love to see him play in a game, But
I think it has been so beneficial for Juju to
just get.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Back in practice. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah, And I'm not saying that the reason that they
open the window was that he could get three weeks
of practice and not play, and ultimately that that may
be what happens if he doesn't get activated. He's still
gets three weeks of practice in But I think that
is so beneficial for him because you think about all
all of the time that he has missed. I mean,
it was essentially since he was drafted here he had
(11:04):
a wrist and it was a hamstring, then last year
he had I mean, it has been so many injuries.
So you just want to be able to see him
just getting those reps. So that's what I think has
been the most beneficial thing for him over the last
you know, week and change, being able to get back
into just playing football, whether it's practice. We'd love to
see him activated, but I think you bring up the
(11:24):
weather conditions, and that is one thing coming off of
a knee with nasty you know what looks to be rainy,
and you know, you may don't want to push that
because you would hate to see him re injure something
or overcompensate for something, and it happened. So you know,
being cautious with Juju, I think is pivotal because I
(11:45):
think another thing that would be massive for him is
to go into the offseason healthy and being able to do,
you know, be able to have everything at his disposal
to do to get better on this. He got hurt, right, yes,
So it's I think that all of that, the reps
that he's getting in practice, cannot be overlooked as a
very beneficial thing for Juju.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
On the other side, the New York Giants, it sounds
like Tyrone Tracy and Melik Neighbors are gonna give it
a go yes on Sunday. Those are I think New
York's two best offensive players. Just you know, Tyrone Tracy's
the running back is a local kid. Milik Neighbors, I believe,
is nine receptions away from breaking Pokinakua's rookie record for receptions.
So those are those are important players to keep an
(12:27):
eye on, and then Drew Locke is going to go
for the Giants.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Yeah. I mean we talked about on our podcast on Thursday,
and it was essentially if the Giants were to beat
the Colts, why and it's Melik Neighbors. Offensively, Tyrone Tracy
goes into that, and then defensively, you got guys like
Brian Burns and Caveon Thibodeau who are really good up front,
but you talk about Neighbors and Tracy. I mean, I've
(12:50):
been very surprised at how successful his rookie season has gone. Yeah,
because I don't know necessarily what role they envisioned him being.
I think they thought Devin single Harry's going to be
our feature back. Tracy's kind of that secondary guy. But
he's really filled a nice role for the Giants. I mean,
he's just a handful of yards away from a thousand
(13:10):
scrimmage yards on the year. He had a nice role
with Purdue last year. But you know, the local product,
it'd be cool to see him play. There's also Mike
and McFadden, the linebacker who is an IU product. We
also Bobby o'caake. We won't see since he went on
IR so it was like all this local flavor. They
all got either injury designations or you don't know if
they're gonna play, So it will be kind of cool
(13:31):
to see a couple of those guys. But Malik Neighbors,
that's a big name because he is a guy that
I think you can see the talent already on display
even with that revolving door at quarterback they've had in
New York. So he's a tough one. He's one you're
definitely gonna have to look at for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
This is the Giants are two and thirteen. They're on
track to get the number one overall pick. But this
is why whenever people are like, oh yeah, well, like
you know, you know, could Oregon go beat the New
York Giants, No, no, Because the New York Giants have
Dexter Lawrence who would wreck the game on defense. Yes,
I they have Malik Neighbors would wreck the game on offense.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Right.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
So, like, the point is, the Giants still have really
good players on their team. They are having an awful
football season, but you have to take them seriously because
they still have really good players on both sides of
the ball. Both of them can make a play at
any point in this game. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
And the thing I also draw into this too is
they have really good players at impact positions. And that's it.
You know, when you think about the wide receiver position,
you get them. I mean, the Colts fans have seen this.
I mean I remember a handful of years ago. I've
drawn blanking on his name. Guy from West Virginia played
with the Rams. Tavon Austin von Austin. Okay, this is
(14:39):
a handful of years ago. The Colts saw a terrible
Rams team come in here and Tavon Austin. I'm convinced
that that's the reason he stuck around because the game
against the Colts, he had like eight catches for over
two hundred yards and a handful of touchdowns and that
was the reason they won. And Thelik Neighbors is that
type of player. He can he can open up a
game very very quickly. So him being there is definitely
(15:01):
something that you cannot take this giant teams lightly because
a guy like that, he can wreck a game very quickly.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
All right, Well, we are gonna have a lot more
to know over the next twenty four hours. Yes, not
just in Anthony Richardson's status. But in what happens in
the Chargers and Patriots game and the Broncos and Bengals
games where the Colts need one of those two teams,
if not both the Chargers, and let's give.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Both of those teams to lose. I'm really looking forward to,
you know what Week eighteen would mean at home against
the Jags, everything on the line. I really want to
see that.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Give me a game that matters in Week eighteen. Absolutely
still again, we will know a lot more over the
next twenty four to forty eight hours about several things,
yes involving the Colts. Thanks for listening to this episode
of the Two Minute Drill podcast presented by Nerd Wallet
here on the Colts Audio Network four Casey Valley, IM
JJ Stankobittz talk to you next week before the Colts
regular season finale against the jacksonvill Jaguars. So long,
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