August 8, 2025 • 33 mins
Casey Vallier and Bill Brooks are back for another season of Instant Reaction, an Indianapolis Colts Podcast, with an in-depth breakdown of the Colts' preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens. The guys look at Anthony Richardson's truncated start, what Daniel Jones did over 31 snaps, how Tyler Warren looked and much more.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Well, welcome into instant reaction.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I am Casey Valier, joined by culturing of honor wide
receiver Bill Brooks. Bill, we have instant reaction about football
we saw last night. It's been you know, you're talking
about what ifs, You're talking about all this stuff, what
we've seen in practice. Finally we have some game footage.
Now it is preseason, you take it with a grain
(00:29):
of salt. We also had some really good joint practice
stuff they got on Tuesday, so you've got two sets
of tape that this team has been able to put
out there. But you know, we're talking about last night,
instant reactions. Always following a game and the Colts fall
to the Ravens in Baltimore twenty four to sixteen. When
you look at the overall game, what was your biggest
(00:52):
takeaway yesterday. I know we're going to dive into all
the specifics. Everybody knows about the injury Anthony Richards and
that's gonna be there, But I want to talk about
what was your biggest overall takeaway? Seeing football again for
the first time in what six months.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Or so, It's always great to see football again, especially
in the preseason, because you have a lot of young
guys that are trying to show what they can.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Do, want to make the football team.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
It could be a dream come true for them to
make an NFL football team. So it is a fun
time of the year. But as for the game itself,
it was for the most part, the.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
First preseason game.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
You saw some good stuff, but you saw some things
that definitely, definitely need to be improved on, and the
coaches has some mistakes out there. They made some mistakes,
but they some guys did some nice things. So there
were some individuals that had good games that played well,
but as a whole, from a team standpoint, there are
some things they need to clean up.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
So, as we mentioned at the top, we're gonna dive
into all things, and it's only fitting to start with
the injury suffered to Anthony Richardson. He had seven plays
under his belt, suffer as a dislocated pinky on his
throwing hand, and ultimately, any injury to Anthony Richardson is
crushing because of just the history behind it. You want
(02:09):
to see this competition everybody. You would love to see
both guys healthy and competing to the end so you
can have a clear cut winner of this battle. But
I think it's a really loaded injury when you think
of the implications of this week. We don't know the
extent of how long it will keep potentially Anthony out.
(02:30):
He's listed as day to day by Shane Styke, and
it popped out. They popped it back in, so they're
gonna do a lot of testing over the next couple
of days to see what he can do is throw
us throwing the football. But we talked about this ongoing
quarterback battle between he and Daniel Jones. And you have
practice Saturday, Sunday, Monday, a couple days off before the
Green Bay Packers come in. It's down for a joint practice,
(02:52):
and that second preseason game comes up on Saturday. So
just how crushing overall is this blow today Anthony Richardson
because he just seemingly has to continue to overcome injury
after injury.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Yeah, I think it's tough.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
I think it's tough for Anthony to have his injury
at this point of the preseason when he's battling Daniel Jones,
and you know, I don't know how long he's going
to be out, if he's going to be out at all,
So we don't know that's his day to day. But
I know that I've just located my finger. I'm a receiver,
so it's totally different position, but still there's some stiffness.
(03:28):
You just don't have some flexibility in it. And I
don't know how that's going to affect him holding the football,
taking snaps if he has to take snaps under the
center throwing the football. So that is a difficult thing
for me to answer as for how is it going
to affect him in that sense, But I think it's
going to affect him in a sense that if he
does not have that practice time, it's.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Gonna go to Daniel Jones.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yea, And Daniel Jones is going to have more practice
time he's gonna have, he's gonna have more.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
On tape for the coaches to see.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
And I don't know how that's going to play out
and the Giant practice with Green Bay and also definitely
the preseason game, so we'll have to see. It's gonna
be It's very hard. But I think it's tough for
Anthony having that because I thought that he's doing some
good things in training camp, but you know what, when
you're not able to play, it makes it very difficult.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
We know his talent. Let's they say that we know
his talent.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
He's very talented, but there are other things that he's
working on and he's improved on. But you have to
continue to show that. And if you're not available, it's
hard to show that.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, and I think we both agree.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
You mentioned that he's done some good things during camp,
and it was pretty even race up till yesterday, you know,
when he suffers that injury. I think it was pretty even.
And you know, tip of the cap to Shane Steichen
and everybody, because I think they gave about as close
to equal reps to this point as you can. I mean,
it has been impressive with the amount of reps that
(04:52):
they have both taken with both the ones and the twos.
So it has been a pretty fair competition at this point.
And one of the things I don't know necessarily if
it's saving grace, if you will, but looking at or
or hearing from what Anthony said yesterday following the game,
that he was able to, you know, get back on
the sidelines, throw the football around a little bit and
(05:12):
even asked, Hey, I think I want to go back
in the game. That kind of helps me. I mean,
they of course said, no, you've already been ruled out.
We're gonna be cautious with this. We don't want you
to go and reinjure anything make it worse. But I
think that also gives you a little bit of hope
that maybe it's not as severe, so as far as
you know what it's going to be as lengthwise, now,
(05:32):
he mentioned that I'm sure today's probably waking up and
he's gonna feel it a little bit more today, the
swelling's gonna be there, all of that. So you got
a weigh all of those things. But this question, I
think is really more for Shane Steichen and their staff.
But I'm gonna ask you, Bill, because you happen to
be right here and I don't really get to talk
to those guys in this kind of setting. So I'm
(05:54):
gonna ask you this question, and you better have the
answer for me with this in do you at all
expect if Anthony can go this is all hypothetical, If
Anthony is able to participate in joint practice play in
the game next Saturday, do you think they're going to
rotate and switch that plan, Because that initial plan was
(06:16):
Anthony would get a quarter and a half of the
first game against the Ravens, and then Daniel would get
a quarter and a half against the Packers. With that flopped,
because Anthony played just seven offensive snaps, Daniel essentially got
a quarter and a half against the Ravens. Do you
expect that to switch if Anthony is available.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
I think if they want to stick to the initial
plan of making sure that everyone gets equal amount snaps
first and second team, I think what happened to Anthony
with the injury, you know, showing his time out there
on the football field in the first game against Baltimore,
I think they will flip it around. I think, you know,
Anthony would probably get more of the reps this game
(06:54):
against the Green Bay Packers if he's able to go
during the week and to show that his fingers okay,
it's not gonna hamper him or not gonna cause a
further injury to that finger or to that hand. I
think they will if you want to stick to the
initial plan of making sure that each player gets equal
reps with first and second team, I think I only
be right for them to do.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
It that way.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Now, looking at this conversation from a Daniel Jones perspective,
probably not anticipating playing the amount of reps that he
was able to get yesterday in that game against the Ravens.
But when you look at it from a stat standpoint,
nothing really jumps off the page ten of twenty one,
one hundred and forty one yards. You know, touchdowns, no interceptions.
(07:38):
He was sacked once, but I think overall he looked
very comfortable, looked poised. I think that initial oh, I'm
in the game, it's a third down, let's just you know,
hand the ball off live to play another set of
downs and then we kind of refresh. So maybe that
part of it was a little hectic or frantic, if
you will, for Jones, But I thought he was able
(07:59):
to kind of settle down when he got back out.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
There, looked pretty poised.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
There were a handful of drops from the receivers and
running backs that didn't help him. But what do you
kind of take from what you saw out of Daniel
Jones kind of the first time really Jones playing a
game in a Colt uniform.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Well, I saw a quarterback that's a veteran quarterback that
was prepared to go in there, even though when he
didn't think he might be going in there as far
as as early as he did during the game with
Anthony getting hurt, I'm apple going there. He was ready,
and that's what you have to be as far as
if you're a NFL player, you have to be ready.
You're one play away from getting in and playing. And
so everyone knows that, and kudos to him for being
(08:37):
ready and prepared to go in there and play. And
as you said, numbers weren't right, it weren't great or
anything like that, but I thought he did some good things.
And one play that really sticks out of my mind
right now is him rolling out to his left and
giving the balls to Doling doing across the body, across
the by very tough, very tough to do third quarterback.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
I think it was a third and seven. You're able
to but I think so. I think you're able to
extend the sticks a little bit and.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Roll out to your left and very hard for a
right handed quarterback and throw the ball to Doeling, get
the ball doing doing, makes a nice catch, holds onto
the ball, gets the little yards after the catch.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
So I think that was very impressive.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
To see his athleticism to do that, to be able
to do that. So he has done some nice things.
I like the way he throw the ball, you know,
when receivers, even though some receivers dropped the ball. But
I think he did some good things out there. Nothing
like spectacle or anything, right, but he was okay.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
And one of the things too, that we always have
to talk about, especially with a preseason game, is you
look at it and in the regular season you've got
a different offensive line in there, You've got a different
running back behind you, you got guys like Michael Pittman,
Josh Downs, Alec Pierce out there. So things do change
too because of personnel. Now I'm not saying that you know,
(09:55):
oh well, you can't take at all what these guys
did because they aren't elite. Not saying that at all.
I just think you do have to look at it,
you know, glass half full, whatever, whichever way you look
at it, You got to take that a little bit
into consideration because it will be personel different personnel when
he's out there if it is during a regular season game.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
And also as well as it'll they'll have a game
plan right too.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Yes, thanks a change things up against certain teams because
they know that certain teams do certain things, so things
will be a little bit different, so you have to
take that into servation as well.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
And you know, with Daniel Jones, final thing on him
before you switch to you know, a little bit more
big picture stuff for the Colts. The injury to Anthony Richardson.
Like I said, we're taking it day to day. We
don't have anything concrete on when he'll be back to practice.
But this is another opportunity for Daniel Jones to take
advantage of those reps. We saw him take full advantage
(10:48):
during the spring when Anthony wasn't able to be out
there for you know, essentially that vet mini camp that
we had during the spring, and we all came away
saying Daniel Jones looked really, really impressive. He was poised
in command of the offense. And he's got another opportunity
to do that. And it comes in a pivotal stretch.
I mean, I mentioned everything you got coming up with
(11:09):
the Packers. If Anthony Richardson is not able to get
back out there, how vital to this competition are these
reps that Daniel Jones is getting. And I mean I'm
not trying to put the cart before the horse here,
but it may ultimately be what makes it or breaks
it for him winning this job if he's able to
take full advantage of what he can do this week.
(11:31):
If Anthony Richards can't get out there, this is kind
of the last test run before the regular season exactly.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
If Anthony can't get out there, this is Daniel Jones opportunity.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
Yeah, this is his opportunity to go out there.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And show, Hey, look, I'm able to take command of
the huddle, I'm able to control the offense. I'm able
to go out there and I have full command of
the playbook, and I can go out there at extecute
whatever game plan you have for us, depending on who
we're playing. So I think is a great opportunity for
Daniel if this happens. You know, if for him, of course,
(12:03):
he needs to take advantage of the opportunity. And as
a player, all you want is an opportunity, right to
go out there and show what you can do.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
And this gives Daniel an opportunity.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
If Ar can't go, I hope Ar can go right,
love to see the competition. I hope he's healthy young
man to go out there and play, because he's had
a number of injuries. I hope he can bounce back
from this real quick. And it's not as serious and
it is day to day, so that's a good thing.
But I think for Daniel Jones' sake, if he has
the opportunity, he has to go take full advantage of
(12:33):
it and go out there and show that he can
be able to lead this team throughout the regular season
and throughout hopefully further than that.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
So this is instant reaction. Bill Brooks Casey Valier next
up on the docket for tonight. I thought we would
dive into some rookies because it's a fun time for them.
This is their first ever taste of NFL football. Yes,
it's the preseason, but this is the moment they've been
thinking about working towards since they were little kids. And
(13:03):
I really wanted to highlight three rookies in particular who
I thought made some flashes, made the most of their
opportunities yesterday. And we have to start with the guy
who the Colt selected in the first round in Tyler Warren,
the tight end who looked every bit the part of
what we were expecting him to be. He had three targets,
caught all three passes for forty yards. You could almost
(13:27):
make a case that he may have been one of
the best players on the field yesterday.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Yeah, you definitely could make a case of that.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
I mean just watching him play, watching him catch the
ball over the middle, which I think is going to
be big for the Napolis Colts, having commanded the middle
of the field in regards to throwing the football and
having people out there that can catch the ball.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
And he did a nice job running routes.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Looking at some of the plays from the game, it
was one route he kind of have an out route
there and he came and it was to me, I
have a textbook of someone coming back downhill to catch
the ball because he's rolling out a little bit, but
when the ball was thrown in the air, he took
two or three steps back towards the ball and to
(14:06):
make sure that the defender couldn't get it. You know,
the defender wasn't close, But it's just basic fundamentals of
coming back to the ball, catching the ball. Those are
the little things that you do that makes him special
because you have to do that day in and day out.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
And then his physical physicality.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I like it.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
And as you know, Case, I've talked to you about this.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
I'm looking forward to the season to see him catch
the ball and just run, run and run because he
runs hard, he runs physical and just run people over.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
So I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
So the man plays with physicality, he's talented, he's athletic,
does a nice job catching the ball. So three targets,
three catches, you know, I think that's what everyone expected
from Tyler Warren. Maybe it gets overlooked, but I think
it's impressive for his first NFL game, even though it's preseason.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
I think he did a real nice job.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
You mentioned you what he can do over the middle,
kind of in between the hash marks offensively. How beneficial
is that to have a guy that you can just
you know where he's gonna be, he's reliable. How much
does that help an offense? Especially just moving the sticks,
even if it's just six yards, we need to get
(15:20):
a first down, you know where to go.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
It's I think it's very important for an offense. As
an offense, you want to be able to say, you
know what, I can throw the ball outside. I can
throw the ball five yards. I can throw the ball
mid range fifteen to twenty yards. I can throw the
ball down the field on the outside. I can both
throw the ball down the field in the middle field.
You want to be able to use the whole field, Yeah,
because it makes your offense more powerful and more potent.
(15:42):
And with all of that, you need someone definitely to
command the middle of the field. The shortest throw is
from the quarterback to the middle of the field, right,
and the quarterback can see you and he feels comfortable
with you get the ball to you knowing that, hey, look,
you can make those tough catches, those tight window catches where.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
The quarterback has to zip it in there. He can
catch it.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
And make sure he can possibly get yards after the catch,
but mainly catch it and get it first down.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
And if you could.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Command the mill of the field, the outside, outside the numbers,
you could command down the field. It just opens up
your offense that you can do anything, and that helps
the running game. Jonathan Taylor now can run and do
what he wants to do. And you know how good
Jonathan Taylor is. When you have someone that can take
command of the middle of the field and an offense
that can command the middle of the field, it just
(16:30):
helps your offense totally.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Now, one of the things that we mentioned last night
as we were a part of the fifth quarter huddle
here locally in Indianapolis, the postgame show following the game
last night. We are not coaches. Nope, we are not evaluators.
We don't have to make any of those decisions, which
is great because I want no part of that. You
want no part of that. But here is a question
that I am anxious to kind of see where we're
(16:53):
gonna go, so I don't need any you know, it's
one of those things. This is not going to be concrete,
but what we saw out of Tyler Warren in Game one,
what we're anticipating seeing, you know, with all of the
starters and the joint practice against against the Green Bay
coming up this week, do you think we need to
see Tyler play in the second and third preseason games
(17:16):
because we have kind of seen a good sample size
of what he's going to be able to do. We
know we're gonna see really meaningful stuff in that joint practice,
which essentially would be in some ways a third preseason
games that you've had a joint practice, a game and
then another one. Do you expect to see Tyler Warren
moving forward?
Speaker 3 (17:33):
You said, Doe, I need to see I don't think
I need to see Tyler Warren those games.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
I know what he can do.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
I expect him to play in one of those two games,
the second or third game. But yes, you have the
joint practice, which is essentially another preseason game, and then
you're going to play that same team at the end
of the week. So I think you will see him
in one of those two games. Definitely, possibly both games,
but I think they will give him a shot, and
they might give some other guys, possibly in that tight
(18:04):
end room playing time that didn't get as much playing
time this past week.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
So we'll see.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I think they understand and know what Tyler Warren is,
what he can do, and how vib is, how valuable
he is to this team. So I don't think he'll
play a whole lot, but I think he will play some.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
One of these two games.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Now, the next rookie I wanted to talk about there
kind of comes a little bit of an asterisk because
he did leave the game yesterday with a knee injury
JT two imolo Au. But I thought his debut, he
made some flashes. We had the strip sack and then
he had a really nice pass deflection late in the game.
And we know about depth. Depth is one thing that
you're always talking about, especially on the defensive line. But
(18:52):
I thought what he showed, you know, that's a good
sign when you think about you got Lea tu Lato,
you got Samsonebakom, you got Quitty pay Taekwon Lewis.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
It's nice to have.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Another guy in there that you feel comfortable about throwing
out there. So how important was it for him to
kind of put some.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Good tape out there?
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Because yeah, he's a second round pick, but nothing in
this league is guaranteed, and you come into a line
that has some pretty good depth already clearly, I mean
he's fire. He's playing there in the third and fourth quarter,
so you know, depth is going to be part of
his issue on getting onto the field, just because you've
got a lot of really good players there. But I
thought it was a pretty good showing.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Yes, I thought he had a good showing last night.
I thought he did some nice things out there.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
As you mentioned, you had two tackles, one sack, two
tackles for losses, one pass deflective. Yeah, so it's very
important that he get out there and played, and he showed,
you know, he showed that, you know what, I'm worthy
enough to be able to go out here and play
and be productive. And I can play, and I am
a good player that to be able to be a
(19:52):
depth piece or I'm working my way so I can
get more playing exactly, you know, And that's what you
want to do.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
That's what you want from a young player that you know.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
But yes, you might want to say, okay, I want
to be one of the depth guys that you know,
if someone gets banged up or someone needs to blow,
I can go in. But maybe if someone gets banged
up for a number of weeks, I can go in
and I can produce right, and the coaches feel comfortable
putting me in there, and I can show the coaches
that I can play. So it's good to see him
go out there, make a statement early on in this
(20:22):
season as far as preseason, and do the things that
he did last night. If he could continue to do
those things, his playing time will go up. I mean,
I think he's going to be a piece that the
coach will use and will use quite a bit because
if he does what he did last night, you knowly
bills off of that. I think, you know what, he's
(20:43):
going to have a pretty good rookie year.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
The final rookie that we're going to talk about.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
We're anticipating not seeing much from him when the regular
season rolls around. In Riley Leonard low expectations. You know,
he's a late round pick fighting here for essentially that
third quarterback spot along with Jason Bean. He got a
lot of run yesterday in his first preseason game.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
I think he.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Showed some flashes.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
There was you know, when you look at the numbers,
I think he had ninety six passing yards, which you
would love to see more, especially with the volume of throws.
But I think he showed what he can do with
his legs, you know, having that versatility to create and
do all of that. So what do you make of
Riley Leonard's debut game in a Colts uniform. It wasn't
anything that you're going to run home and say, Man,
(21:25):
this guy needs to be the guy right now, because
I think he is a bit of a project right
and I think that's part of the reason he was drafted.
This team really likes all the intangibles. He's a great
locker room guy, he's a leader, he's an athlete, and
there might be something there. You just got to let
and see that progress. So I don't think you're wanting
to throw him out there early. But I thought he
showed a little bit yesterday of when live bullets are
(21:48):
come in, you know, I can I can adjust and
make some plays here.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Yeah, I don't think the game was too big for
him anything last night for him, But I think for me,
I think he showed that, you know what, he's a quarterback.
Then if pressure comes or things break down, he can
move in the pocket, he can run, he can scramble,
he can make something happen now and nothing in that
regards as far as with his legs. You know what
(22:11):
he threw interception. Don't want to see that. You know,
he's twelve to twenty four. Not great stats, you know,
but I thought he showed what he's capable of doing
in regards with his legs and running the ball. You know,
it made some good passes at times, but some passes
were blue and shaky. But that's a big expective of
a young quarterback going out there, so you know, a
(22:34):
lot to learn, a lot to improve on. I know
that he wanted to go out there and do well,
but it's National Football League. These guys out there and
you know, playing and make make a living, so they're
gonna they're gonna play.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
Hard and make it difficult for you.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
But you know what the good thing is, he saw
some things out there in the first NFL game. He
knows what he needs to work on, and so he
could work on those things and build off of that.
Hopefully it will get better. But young guy, just go
and learn and move forward.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Now, a major impact that we've seen this week in
Baltimore was the injury bug that hit this team. We
talked about Anthony Richardson and his dissocated finger, but we
also learned last night that cornerback Justin Wally suffered a
torn acl during joint practice on Tuesday, which brings what
looked to be a very promising rookie season to a
close before it really ever got started. You know, he
(23:30):
was a guy who was really competing and looked like
he may have earned that starting spot alongside Tarvarius Ward
and Kenny Moore in the cornerback room. But you look
at this, you know how tough that is for not
only the person, but also the team. I mean, you're
a player, you know how difficult it is. How hard
(23:50):
is that to cope? From a team aspect? But then
also to put your shoes into Justin Wally, who is
trying to make a name for himself. You know, you're
coming into a situation where there's a lot of guys
who have played a lot of football. You got to
earn your stripes, and he's been able to earn that spot.
But now he's got to go to the rehab room
and try to get better for the twenty twenty sixth season.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Yeah, as an individual, as a young guy coming into
the league and a guy that you know, played well
in college and came here and you know, people were
singing his praises as what he has been showing on
and OTAs and training camp, and he's been playing well,
doing a nice job, good locker room guy, good teammate.
(24:34):
It's tough for him as an individual to be able
to go out and play well knowing that you possibly
have a good good shot of having significant playing time
on the defense as a rookie and going out there
and unfortunately getting an injury. Now you're not gonna be
(24:54):
able to play, You're gonna be out for the season,
and then going through rehab first, he's gonna have to
deal with the mental aspect of it. Just being hurt
and not being able to go out there and play.
I don't know if he's ever been hurt before. So
he's gonna have to deal with that because a lot
of times what happens you surgery to repair it, then
after that the rehab, you're kind of somewhat somewhat isolated.
(25:17):
You know what you're doing all the thing on your own.
You're not around your teammates, and it's a it's tough.
It's a tough thing to deal with knowing that, you
know what, you're kind of over here by yourself, and
your rest of the team is doing playing games and practicing,
and you want to be with your teammates and you're
not there.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
So he gonna he's gonna have to deal with that.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
And I think the team aspect is they're losing a
good player for a year at least. I mean that,
you know, that's that's what they're gonna lose. A good player,
a guy that came out and played well, that would
contribute to the team, that would go out there and
and make some big plays and practice and knowing that
he was gonna be an important piece to this defense.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
UH this year. In twenty twenty five. So it's tough.
You know, we talked about this last night that you
know what this is going.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
This is a tough situation to be in as as
a young guy, as a rookie, because it's just hard
knowing that you did all this work to get to
this point, yep, and there's one play, one play it's
gonna in your in your season for the twenty twenty five,
(26:30):
not your career, but in your season two twenty five,
And that's hard for a young guy to accept.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
It's a varying, it's one of those it's very, very
hard to hear the news. And we hope, you know,
we hope he is a quick recovery and he can
get back ready to go for the twenty twenty six season,
because clearly he made an impact to this point, and
you're just anxious to see how he can help the
defense and that's the biggest thing. You want to get
him out there and be able to help. But that
(26:55):
brings us to our next thing. There where two weeks
ago we're talking about the depth at cornerback and now
we're looking at a handful of injuries that are starting
to mount up. You've got you know, Sharvarius Ward and
Kenny Moore, who are your savvy vetts who you don't
have anything to worry about. You know what they're going
to give you. But you know, fighting for that third
(27:16):
spot we had justin Walley, you have Jalen Jones, Juju Brentz,
those two guys both dealing with hamstring injuries. Wally now
gone for the year, So next man up. That's the
mantra in the NFL, those guys like Samuel Wollmack, Jonathan Edwards.
We saw Alex Johnson make the most of his opportunities yesterday.
A nice pass defense and he had that great one
(27:37):
handed interception on the opening drive. I think it was
actually the first pass of the games second play, So
that was a really good opportunity for him to make
the most of those those chances that he gets. But
I think it's safe to say that guys like Wollmack, Edwards,
Alex Johnson, they may have a pretty important role on
(27:58):
this defense now moving forward. Actually, because you don't know
where Juju Brents and Jalen Jones are on those hamstring injuries.
And we mentioned it last night, soft tissue injuries. You
don't want to rush them back because those things tend
to linger. So these guys have now a very much
more elevated role at this point moving forward, which they
were probably fighting for. I got to make noise on
(28:21):
special teams to make the roster, and now you may
have an important part in defense.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Yeah, it looks like they might have an important part
on defense. But at least they have an opportunity.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
I don't don't know if it's.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Gonna they are going to have an important part of
the defense, but at least they have an opportunity to
go out there to show that hey, look, I'm capable
of playing in this league and playing at a high
level and playing for this defense of the Annapolis coach.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
So they're gonna have an opportunity to go out there
and Alex Johnson, good game. Yeah, I mean that's a
good game yesterday.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
That was a nice interception and I also had a
nice pass deflection, so I think he did a nice
job out there.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
And he had an interception when he was being held.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Yes, it was an offensive pass interference goal that was
declined and he was able to I mean that was
that was pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
That was a great moment for catch.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Yeah, you know, he's gonna have to do things like that, yeah,
you know what, to show that, hey, I'm capable of
going out here and making play. So, uh, the guys
have an opportunity, and that's what you wanted to play, opportunity,
But they have to show that they're capable of handling
the opportunity, handling the all the things that have come
with it, as far as playing defensive back and dealing
with the defense and being in lou anim Remove's defense
(29:26):
and all things that they need to do and show
the athleticism. So we'll see, it's gonna be tough, and
you know, hopefully Juju and and Jalen could come back
and soft tissues, you know, can they can take care
of those things and they can be healthy for the
rest of the season. But it's gonna be important and
imperative for those other guys to step up and show
that they're capable of playing and stepping in and doing
(29:47):
the job.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
So one final thing here on instant reaction, I thought
the play of the special teams drew some attention, not
in a good way. Not in a good way. I
thought it was a really rough game for the coverage
in both and punt return yesterday we saw an eighty
seven yard punt return for a touchdown and then also
a sixty nine yard kick return that looked like it
(30:10):
could have been taken to the house. Spencer Schrader was
able to get his hands on, you know, the waist
and it was allowing I think it was Rodney Thomas
who was able to catch him from behind and you know,
save them from scoring a touchdown. But what was the
biggest reason the Colts allowed such explosive plays in the
return game yesterday?
Speaker 3 (30:28):
It looked like for me it was just lack of
land integrity, not being in your proper lands and once
one person gets out of the lane, it messes up
everything for the rest of the team, and then it
has a makes a big opening for the return to
hit that lane and make a big play, which the
Ravens did in the game. So that and a lot
(30:50):
of times you have guys out there that, you know what,
they're trying to make a play, they want to make
a play, and they kind of go outside of staying
in the lane and doing what the're supposed to doing
trying to make a play instead of just doing your
job letting the play come to you. So I think
that was one. And then also tackling. You know, you
have to tackle guys. If you can't tackle, it's going
to be very difficult. So that's something they're gonna have
(31:11):
to clean up. You know, some of those guys will
they will will they be on the team. We don't
know he's going to be on the team. Who's not
going to be on the team. But they still need
to clean that up. And you want a good operation.
When it talks about special teams, it's one third of
the game. It's very important. So you have to be
on your p's and q's out there on your special
teams and don't relax because they think, ah, it's just
(31:32):
just another play.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
No, it's an important play in a game.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
So, uh, they're gonna have to clean that up, which
I think they will clean it up. I mean, you know,
coach Mason will clean up. I'm sure he's not happy.
I'm sure he's not happy knowing Coach Mason about that,
But they'll clean it up and get things straightened out.
And if they can do that, I think there are
special teams will be pretty.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Special and and real quick.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
On the flip side, I think we did see Spencer
Strader looked pretty good yesterday. He was three or four
on his field goals, one of two from fifty plus.
But I think if you tell Spencer we're gonna go
into a game, you're gonna go three for four on
field goals with the one miss being fifty plus, I
think you can live with that.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
I mean the one that he did make, the fifty
yard was.
Speaker 4 (32:16):
That was booming and right down the middle.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
I mean, man, he's got a leg and by.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
We talked about the ball just carry it just booms
off his foot. So I think you saw his leg
strength there and now he's just a matter of him
being a little bit more consistent. Yep, you know, a
little bit more accurate. But I think he'll be fine.
The one he did miss, it hit off the up right,
ye yeahah, so it's not too far off there. But
(32:42):
I think you saw Smeti Strada's leg when he made
that fifty yard Well.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
There you go. That's gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
For the first installment of instant reaction following that first
preseason game of the twenty twenty five season, as the
Colts fall to the Ravens in Baltimore twenty four to sixteen, Bill,
I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Man, thanks, thank you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
We've we've became accustomed to each other.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
We spent a lot of time yesterday, yes was at four.
We started the pregame huddle on locally radio wise at
four o'clock and finished.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
It on one.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
All right, I'm gonna take a break from you, all right, Bill,
I'll see you tomorrow when the Colts are back to practice.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
Yes, we'll see up at Westfield.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
No, there's no rest for us here, but yeah, the
Colts they return up to Grand Park for training camp.
We have practice Saturday, Sunday, Monday, a couple days off
on the field before taking practice on Thursday for the
joint joint work with the Green Bay Packers, and then
culminating on the preseason game next Saturday, the first home
(33:41):
game for the Colts, so the first time they'll play
inside Lucas Oil Stadium. And we will be back for
instant reaction coming up on Saturday. But for Bill Brooks,
I'm Casey Value. Thank you so much. This has been
instant reaction.
Well, welcome into instant reaction.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I am Casey Valier, joined by culturing of honor wide
receiver Bill Brooks. Bill, we have instant reaction about football
we saw last night. It's been you know, you're talking
about what ifs, You're talking about all this stuff, what
we've seen in practice. Finally we have some game footage.
Now it is preseason, you take it with a grain
(00:29):
of salt. We also had some really good joint practice
stuff they got on Tuesday, so you've got two sets
of tape that this team has been able to put
out there. But you know, we're talking about last night,
instant reactions. Always following a game and the Colts fall
to the Ravens in Baltimore twenty four to sixteen. When
you look at the overall game, what was your biggest
(00:52):
takeaway yesterday. I know we're going to dive into all
the specifics. Everybody knows about the injury Anthony Richards and
that's gonna be there, But I want to talk about
what was your biggest overall takeaway? Seeing football again for
the first time in what six months.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Or so, It's always great to see football again, especially
in the preseason, because you have a lot of young
guys that are trying to show what they can.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Do, want to make the football team.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
It could be a dream come true for them to
make an NFL football team. So it is a fun
time of the year. But as for the game itself,
it was for the most part, the.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
First preseason game.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
You saw some good stuff, but you saw some things
that definitely, definitely need to be improved on, and the
coaches has some mistakes out there. They made some mistakes,
but they some guys did some nice things. So there
were some individuals that had good games that played well,
but as a whole, from a team standpoint, there are
some things they need to clean up.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
So, as we mentioned at the top, we're gonna dive
into all things, and it's only fitting to start with
the injury suffered to Anthony Richardson. He had seven plays
under his belt, suffer as a dislocated pinky on his
throwing hand, and ultimately, any injury to Anthony Richardson is
crushing because of just the history behind it. You want
(02:09):
to see this competition everybody. You would love to see
both guys healthy and competing to the end so you
can have a clear cut winner of this battle. But
I think it's a really loaded injury when you think
of the implications of this week. We don't know the
extent of how long it will keep potentially Anthony out.
(02:30):
He's listed as day to day by Shane Styke, and
it popped out. They popped it back in, so they're
gonna do a lot of testing over the next couple
of days to see what he can do is throw
us throwing the football. But we talked about this ongoing
quarterback battle between he and Daniel Jones. And you have
practice Saturday, Sunday, Monday, a couple days off before the
Green Bay Packers come in. It's down for a joint practice,
(02:52):
and that second preseason game comes up on Saturday. So
just how crushing overall is this blow today Anthony Richardson
because he just seemingly has to continue to overcome injury
after injury.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Yeah, I think it's tough.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
I think it's tough for Anthony to have his injury
at this point of the preseason when he's battling Daniel Jones,
and you know, I don't know how long he's going
to be out, if he's going to be out at all,
So we don't know that's his day to day. But
I know that I've just located my finger. I'm a receiver,
so it's totally different position, but still there's some stiffness.
(03:28):
You just don't have some flexibility in it. And I
don't know how that's going to affect him holding the football,
taking snaps if he has to take snaps under the
center throwing the football. So that is a difficult thing
for me to answer as for how is it going
to affect him in that sense, But I think it's
going to affect him in a sense that if he
does not have that practice time, it's.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Gonna go to Daniel Jones.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yea, And Daniel Jones is going to have more practice
time he's gonna have, he's gonna have more.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
On tape for the coaches to see.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
And I don't know how that's going to play out
and the Giant practice with Green Bay and also definitely
the preseason game, so we'll have to see. It's gonna
be It's very hard. But I think it's tough for
Anthony having that because I thought that he's doing some
good things in training camp, but you know what, when
you're not able to play, it makes it very difficult.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
We know his talent. Let's they say that we know
his talent.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
He's very talented, but there are other things that he's
working on and he's improved on. But you have to
continue to show that. And if you're not available, it's
hard to show that.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, and I think we both agree.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
You mentioned that he's done some good things during camp,
and it was pretty even race up till yesterday, you know,
when he suffers that injury. I think it was pretty even.
And you know, tip of the cap to Shane Steichen
and everybody, because I think they gave about as close
to equal reps to this point as you can. I mean,
it has been impressive with the amount of reps that
(04:52):
they have both taken with both the ones and the twos.
So it has been a pretty fair competition at this point.
And one of the things I don't know necessarily if
it's saving grace, if you will, but looking at or
or hearing from what Anthony said yesterday following the game,
that he was able to, you know, get back on
the sidelines, throw the football around a little bit and
(05:12):
even asked, Hey, I think I want to go back
in the game. That kind of helps me. I mean,
they of course said, no, you've already been ruled out.
We're gonna be cautious with this. We don't want you
to go and reinjure anything make it worse. But I
think that also gives you a little bit of hope
that maybe it's not as severe, so as far as
you know what it's going to be as lengthwise, now,
(05:32):
he mentioned that I'm sure today's probably waking up and
he's gonna feel it a little bit more today, the
swelling's gonna be there, all of that. So you got
a weigh all of those things. But this question, I
think is really more for Shane Steichen and their staff.
But I'm gonna ask you, Bill, because you happen to
be right here and I don't really get to talk
to those guys in this kind of setting. So I'm
(05:54):
gonna ask you this question, and you better have the
answer for me with this in do you at all
expect if Anthony can go this is all hypothetical, If
Anthony is able to participate in joint practice play in
the game next Saturday, do you think they're going to
rotate and switch that plan, Because that initial plan was
(06:16):
Anthony would get a quarter and a half of the
first game against the Ravens, and then Daniel would get
a quarter and a half against the Packers. With that flopped,
because Anthony played just seven offensive snaps, Daniel essentially got
a quarter and a half against the Ravens. Do you
expect that to switch if Anthony is available.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
I think if they want to stick to the initial
plan of making sure that everyone gets equal amount snaps
first and second team, I think what happened to Anthony
with the injury, you know, showing his time out there
on the football field in the first game against Baltimore,
I think they will flip it around. I think, you know,
Anthony would probably get more of the reps this game
(06:54):
against the Green Bay Packers if he's able to go
during the week and to show that his fingers okay,
it's not gonna hamper him or not gonna cause a
further injury to that finger or to that hand. I
think they will if you want to stick to the
initial plan of making sure that each player gets equal
reps with first and second team, I think I only
be right for them to do.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
It that way.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Now, looking at this conversation from a Daniel Jones perspective,
probably not anticipating playing the amount of reps that he
was able to get yesterday in that game against the Ravens.
But when you look at it from a stat standpoint,
nothing really jumps off the page ten of twenty one,
one hundred and forty one yards. You know, touchdowns, no interceptions.
(07:38):
He was sacked once, but I think overall he looked
very comfortable, looked poised. I think that initial oh, I'm
in the game, it's a third down, let's just you know,
hand the ball off live to play another set of
downs and then we kind of refresh. So maybe that
part of it was a little hectic or frantic, if
you will, for Jones, But I thought he was able
(07:59):
to kind of settle down when he got back out.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
There, looked pretty poised.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
There were a handful of drops from the receivers and
running backs that didn't help him. But what do you
kind of take from what you saw out of Daniel
Jones kind of the first time really Jones playing a
game in a Colt uniform.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Well, I saw a quarterback that's a veteran quarterback that
was prepared to go in there, even though when he
didn't think he might be going in there as far
as as early as he did during the game with
Anthony getting hurt, I'm apple going there. He was ready,
and that's what you have to be as far as
if you're a NFL player, you have to be ready.
You're one play away from getting in and playing. And
so everyone knows that, and kudos to him for being
(08:37):
ready and prepared to go in there and play. And
as you said, numbers weren't right, it weren't great or
anything like that, but I thought he did some good things.
And one play that really sticks out of my mind
right now is him rolling out to his left and
giving the balls to Doling doing across the body, across
the by very tough, very tough to do third quarterback.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
I think it was a third and seven. You're able
to but I think so. I think you're able to
extend the sticks a little bit and.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Roll out to your left and very hard for a
right handed quarterback and throw the ball to Doeling, get
the ball doing doing, makes a nice catch, holds onto
the ball, gets the little yards after the catch.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
So I think that was very impressive.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
To see his athleticism to do that, to be able
to do that. So he has done some nice things.
I like the way he throw the ball, you know,
when receivers, even though some receivers dropped the ball. But
I think he did some good things out there. Nothing
like spectacle or anything, right, but he was okay.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
And one of the things too, that we always have
to talk about, especially with a preseason game, is you
look at it and in the regular season you've got
a different offensive line in there, You've got a different
running back behind you, you got guys like Michael Pittman,
Josh Downs, Alec Pierce out there. So things do change
too because of personnel. Now I'm not saying that you know,
(09:55):
oh well, you can't take at all what these guys
did because they aren't elite. Not saying that at all.
I just think you do have to look at it,
you know, glass half full, whatever, whichever way you look
at it, You got to take that a little bit
into consideration because it will be personel different personnel when
he's out there if it is during a regular season game.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
And also as well as it'll they'll have a game
plan right too.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Yes, thanks a change things up against certain teams because
they know that certain teams do certain things, so things
will be a little bit different, so you have to
take that into servation as well.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
And you know, with Daniel Jones, final thing on him
before you switch to you know, a little bit more
big picture stuff for the Colts. The injury to Anthony Richardson.
Like I said, we're taking it day to day. We
don't have anything concrete on when he'll be back to practice.
But this is another opportunity for Daniel Jones to take
advantage of those reps. We saw him take full advantage
(10:48):
during the spring when Anthony wasn't able to be out
there for you know, essentially that vet mini camp that
we had during the spring, and we all came away
saying Daniel Jones looked really, really impressive. He was poised
in command of the offense. And he's got another opportunity
to do that. And it comes in a pivotal stretch.
I mean, I mentioned everything you got coming up with
(11:09):
the Packers. If Anthony Richardson is not able to get
back out there, how vital to this competition are these
reps that Daniel Jones is getting. And I mean I'm
not trying to put the cart before the horse here,
but it may ultimately be what makes it or breaks
it for him winning this job if he's able to
take full advantage of what he can do this week.
(11:31):
If Anthony Richards can't get out there, this is kind
of the last test run before the regular season exactly.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
If Anthony can't get out there, this is Daniel Jones opportunity.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
Yeah, this is his opportunity to go out there.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And show, Hey, look, I'm able to take command of
the huddle, I'm able to control the offense. I'm able
to go out there and I have full command of
the playbook, and I can go out there at extecute
whatever game plan you have for us, depending on who
we're playing. So I think is a great opportunity for
Daniel if this happens. You know, if for him, of course,
(12:03):
he needs to take advantage of the opportunity. And as
a player, all you want is an opportunity, right to
go out there and show what you can do.
Speaker 4 (12:08):
And this gives Daniel an opportunity.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
If Ar can't go, I hope Ar can go right,
love to see the competition. I hope he's healthy young
man to go out there and play, because he's had
a number of injuries. I hope he can bounce back
from this real quick. And it's not as serious and
it is day to day, so that's a good thing.
But I think for Daniel Jones' sake, if he has
the opportunity, he has to go take full advantage of
(12:33):
it and go out there and show that he can
be able to lead this team throughout the regular season
and throughout hopefully further than that.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
So this is instant reaction. Bill Brooks Casey Valier next
up on the docket for tonight. I thought we would
dive into some rookies because it's a fun time for them.
This is their first ever taste of NFL football. Yes,
it's the preseason, but this is the moment they've been
thinking about working towards since they were little kids. And
(13:03):
I really wanted to highlight three rookies in particular who
I thought made some flashes, made the most of their
opportunities yesterday. And we have to start with the guy
who the Colt selected in the first round in Tyler Warren,
the tight end who looked every bit the part of
what we were expecting him to be. He had three targets,
caught all three passes for forty yards. You could almost
(13:27):
make a case that he may have been one of
the best players on the field yesterday.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Yeah, you definitely could make a case of that.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
I mean just watching him play, watching him catch the
ball over the middle, which I think is going to
be big for the Napolis Colts, having commanded the middle
of the field in regards to throwing the football and
having people out there that can catch the ball.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
And he did a nice job running routes.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Looking at some of the plays from the game, it
was one route he kind of have an out route
there and he came and it was to me, I
have a textbook of someone coming back downhill to catch
the ball because he's rolling out a little bit, but
when the ball was thrown in the air, he took
two or three steps back towards the ball and to
(14:06):
make sure that the defender couldn't get it. You know,
the defender wasn't close, But it's just basic fundamentals of
coming back to the ball, catching the ball. Those are
the little things that you do that makes him special
because you have to do that day in and day out.
Speaker 4 (14:20):
And then his physical physicality.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
I like it.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
And as you know, Case, I've talked to you about this.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
I'm looking forward to the season to see him catch
the ball and just run, run and run because he
runs hard, he runs physical and just run people over.
Speaker 4 (14:35):
So I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
So the man plays with physicality, he's talented, he's athletic,
does a nice job catching the ball. So three targets,
three catches, you know, I think that's what everyone expected
from Tyler Warren. Maybe it gets overlooked, but I think
it's impressive for his first NFL game, even though it's preseason.
Speaker 4 (14:57):
I think he did a real nice job.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
You mentioned you what he can do over the middle,
kind of in between the hash marks offensively. How beneficial
is that to have a guy that you can just
you know where he's gonna be, he's reliable. How much
does that help an offense? Especially just moving the sticks,
even if it's just six yards, we need to get
(15:20):
a first down, you know where to go.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
It's I think it's very important for an offense. As
an offense, you want to be able to say, you
know what, I can throw the ball outside. I can
throw the ball five yards. I can throw the ball
mid range fifteen to twenty yards. I can throw the
ball down the field on the outside. I can both
throw the ball down the field in the middle field.
You want to be able to use the whole field, Yeah,
because it makes your offense more powerful and more potent.
(15:42):
And with all of that, you need someone definitely to
command the middle of the field. The shortest throw is
from the quarterback to the middle of the field, right,
and the quarterback can see you and he feels comfortable
with you get the ball to you knowing that, hey, look,
you can make those tough catches, those tight window catches where.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
The quarterback has to zip it in there. He can
catch it.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
And make sure he can possibly get yards after the catch,
but mainly catch it and get it first down.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
And if you could.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Command the mill of the field, the outside, outside the numbers,
you could command down the field. It just opens up
your offense that you can do anything, and that helps
the running game. Jonathan Taylor now can run and do
what he wants to do. And you know how good
Jonathan Taylor is. When you have someone that can take
command of the middle of the field and an offense
that can command the middle of the field, it just
(16:30):
helps your offense totally.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
Now, one of the things that we mentioned last night
as we were a part of the fifth quarter huddle
here locally in Indianapolis, the postgame show following the game
last night. We are not coaches. Nope, we are not evaluators.
We don't have to make any of those decisions, which
is great because I want no part of that. You
want no part of that. But here is a question
that I am anxious to kind of see where we're
(16:53):
gonna go, so I don't need any you know, it's
one of those things. This is not going to be concrete,
but what we saw out of Tyler Warren in Game one,
what we're anticipating seeing, you know, with all of the
starters and the joint practice against against the Green Bay
coming up this week, do you think we need to
see Tyler play in the second and third preseason games
(17:16):
because we have kind of seen a good sample size
of what he's going to be able to do. We
know we're gonna see really meaningful stuff in that joint practice,
which essentially would be in some ways a third preseason
games that you've had a joint practice, a game and
then another one. Do you expect to see Tyler Warren
moving forward?
Speaker 3 (17:33):
You said, Doe, I need to see I don't think
I need to see Tyler Warren those games.
Speaker 4 (17:38):
I know what he can do.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
I expect him to play in one of those two games,
the second or third game. But yes, you have the
joint practice, which is essentially another preseason game, and then
you're going to play that same team at the end
of the week. So I think you will see him
in one of those two games. Definitely, possibly both games,
but I think they will give him a shot, and
they might give some other guys, possibly in that tight
(18:04):
end room playing time that didn't get as much playing
time this past week.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
So we'll see.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
I think they understand and know what Tyler Warren is,
what he can do, and how vib is, how valuable
he is to this team. So I don't think he'll
play a whole lot, but I think he will play some.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
One of these two games.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Now, the next rookie I wanted to talk about there
kind of comes a little bit of an asterisk because
he did leave the game yesterday with a knee injury
JT two imolo Au. But I thought his debut, he
made some flashes. We had the strip sack and then
he had a really nice pass deflection late in the game.
And we know about depth. Depth is one thing that
you're always talking about, especially on the defensive line. But
(18:52):
I thought what he showed, you know, that's a good
sign when you think about you got Lea tu Lato,
you got Samsonebakom, you got Quitty pay Taekwon Lewis.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
It's nice to have.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Another guy in there that you feel comfortable about throwing
out there. So how important was it for him to
kind of put some.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Good tape out there?
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Because yeah, he's a second round pick, but nothing in
this league is guaranteed, and you come into a line
that has some pretty good depth already clearly, I mean
he's fire. He's playing there in the third and fourth quarter,
so you know, depth is going to be part of
his issue on getting onto the field, just because you've
got a lot of really good players there. But I
thought it was a pretty good showing.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Yes, I thought he had a good showing last night.
I thought he did some nice things out there.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
As you mentioned, you had two tackles, one sack, two
tackles for losses, one pass deflective. Yeah, so it's very
important that he get out there and played, and he showed,
you know, he showed that, you know what, I'm worthy
enough to be able to go out here and play
and be productive. And I can play, and I am
a good player that to be able to be a
(19:52):
depth piece or I'm working my way so I can
get more playing exactly, you know, And that's what you
want to do.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
That's what you want from a young player that you know.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
But yes, you might want to say, okay, I want
to be one of the depth guys that you know,
if someone gets banged up or someone needs to blow,
I can go in. But maybe if someone gets banged
up for a number of weeks, I can go in
and I can produce right, and the coaches feel comfortable
putting me in there, and I can show the coaches
that I can play. So it's good to see him
go out there, make a statement early on in this
(20:22):
season as far as preseason, and do the things that
he did last night. If he could continue to do
those things, his playing time will go up. I mean,
I think he's going to be a piece that the
coach will use and will use quite a bit because
if he does what he did last night, you knowly
bills off of that. I think, you know what, he's
(20:43):
going to have a pretty good rookie year.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
The final rookie that we're going to talk about.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
We're anticipating not seeing much from him when the regular
season rolls around. In Riley Leonard low expectations. You know,
he's a late round pick fighting here for essentially that
third quarterback spot along with Jason Bean. He got a
lot of run yesterday in his first preseason game.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
I think he.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Showed some flashes.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
There was you know, when you look at the numbers,
I think he had ninety six passing yards, which you
would love to see more, especially with the volume of throws.
But I think he showed what he can do with
his legs, you know, having that versatility to create and
do all of that. So what do you make of
Riley Leonard's debut game in a Colts uniform. It wasn't
anything that you're going to run home and say, Man,
(21:25):
this guy needs to be the guy right now, because
I think he is a bit of a project right
and I think that's part of the reason he was drafted.
This team really likes all the intangibles. He's a great
locker room guy, he's a leader, he's an athlete, and
there might be something there. You just got to let
and see that progress. So I don't think you're wanting
to throw him out there early. But I thought he
showed a little bit yesterday of when live bullets are
(21:48):
come in, you know, I can I can adjust and
make some plays here.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Yeah, I don't think the game was too big for
him anything last night for him, But I think for me,
I think he showed that, you know what, he's a quarterback.
Then if pressure comes or things break down, he can
move in the pocket, he can run, he can scramble,
he can make something happen now and nothing in that
regards as far as with his legs. You know what
(22:11):
he threw interception. Don't want to see that. You know,
he's twelve to twenty four. Not great stats, you know,
but I thought he showed what he's capable of doing
in regards with his legs and running the ball. You know,
it made some good passes at times, but some passes
were blue and shaky. But that's a big expective of
a young quarterback going out there, so you know, a
(22:34):
lot to learn, a lot to improve on. I know
that he wanted to go out there and do well,
but it's National Football League. These guys out there and
you know, playing and make make a living, so they're
gonna they're gonna play.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
Hard and make it difficult for you.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
But you know what the good thing is, he saw
some things out there in the first NFL game. He
knows what he needs to work on, and so he
could work on those things and build off of that.
Hopefully it will get better. But young guy, just go
and learn and move forward.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Now, a major impact that we've seen this week in
Baltimore was the injury bug that hit this team. We
talked about Anthony Richardson and his dissocated finger, but we
also learned last night that cornerback Justin Wally suffered a
torn acl during joint practice on Tuesday, which brings what
looked to be a very promising rookie season to a
close before it really ever got started. You know, he
(23:30):
was a guy who was really competing and looked like
he may have earned that starting spot alongside Tarvarius Ward
and Kenny Moore in the cornerback room. But you look
at this, you know how tough that is for not
only the person, but also the team. I mean, you're
a player, you know how difficult it is. How hard
(23:50):
is that to cope? From a team aspect? But then
also to put your shoes into Justin Wally, who is
trying to make a name for himself. You know, you're
coming into a situation where there's a lot of guys
who have played a lot of football. You got to
earn your stripes, and he's been able to earn that spot.
But now he's got to go to the rehab room
and try to get better for the twenty twenty sixth season.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
Yeah, as an individual, as a young guy coming into
the league and a guy that you know, played well
in college and came here and you know, people were
singing his praises as what he has been showing on
and OTAs and training camp, and he's been playing well,
doing a nice job, good locker room guy, good teammate.
(24:34):
It's tough for him as an individual to be able
to go out and play well knowing that you possibly
have a good good shot of having significant playing time
on the defense as a rookie and going out there
and unfortunately getting an injury. Now you're not gonna be
(24:54):
able to play, You're gonna be out for the season,
and then going through rehab first, he's gonna have to
deal with the mental aspect of it. Just being hurt
and not being able to go out there and play.
I don't know if he's ever been hurt before. So
he's gonna have to deal with that because a lot
of times what happens you surgery to repair it, then
after that the rehab, you're kind of somewhat somewhat isolated.
(25:17):
You know what you're doing all the thing on your own.
You're not around your teammates, and it's a it's tough.
It's a tough thing to deal with knowing that, you
know what, you're kind of over here by yourself, and
your rest of the team is doing playing games and practicing,
and you want to be with your teammates and you're
not there.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
So he gonna he's gonna have to deal with that.
Speaker 3 (25:36):
And I think the team aspect is they're losing a
good player for a year at least. I mean that,
you know, that's that's what they're gonna lose. A good player,
a guy that came out and played well, that would
contribute to the team, that would go out there and
and make some big plays and practice and knowing that
he was gonna be an important piece to this defense.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
UH this year. In twenty twenty five. So it's tough.
You know, we talked about this last night that you
know what this is going.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
This is a tough situation to be in as as
a young guy, as a rookie, because it's just hard
knowing that you did all this work to get to
this point, yep, and there's one play, one play it's
gonna in your in your season for the twenty twenty five,
(26:30):
not your career, but in your season two twenty five,
And that's hard for a young guy to accept.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
It's a varying, it's one of those it's very, very
hard to hear the news. And we hope, you know,
we hope he is a quick recovery and he can
get back ready to go for the twenty twenty six season,
because clearly he made an impact to this point, and
you're just anxious to see how he can help the
defense and that's the biggest thing. You want to get
him out there and be able to help. But that
(26:55):
brings us to our next thing. There where two weeks
ago we're talking about the depth at cornerback and now
we're looking at a handful of injuries that are starting
to mount up. You've got you know, Sharvarius Ward and
Kenny Moore, who are your savvy vetts who you don't
have anything to worry about. You know what they're going
to give you. But you know, fighting for that third
(27:16):
spot we had justin Walley, you have Jalen Jones, Juju Brentz,
those two guys both dealing with hamstring injuries. Wally now
gone for the year, So next man up. That's the
mantra in the NFL, those guys like Samuel Wollmack, Jonathan Edwards.
We saw Alex Johnson make the most of his opportunities yesterday.
A nice pass defense and he had that great one
(27:37):
handed interception on the opening drive. I think it was
actually the first pass of the games second play, So
that was a really good opportunity for him to make
the most of those those chances that he gets. But
I think it's safe to say that guys like Wollmack, Edwards,
Alex Johnson, they may have a pretty important role on
(27:58):
this defense now moving forward. Actually, because you don't know
where Juju Brents and Jalen Jones are on those hamstring injuries.
And we mentioned it last night, soft tissue injuries. You
don't want to rush them back because those things tend
to linger. So these guys have now a very much
more elevated role at this point moving forward, which they
were probably fighting for. I got to make noise on
(28:21):
special teams to make the roster, and now you may
have an important part in defense.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Yeah, it looks like they might have an important part
on defense. But at least they have an opportunity.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
I don't don't know if it's.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Gonna they are going to have an important part of
the defense, but at least they have an opportunity to
go out there to show that hey, look, I'm capable
of playing in this league and playing at a high
level and playing for this defense of the Annapolis coach.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
So they're gonna have an opportunity to go out there
and Alex Johnson, good game. Yeah, I mean that's a
good game yesterday.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
That was a nice interception and I also had a
nice pass deflection, so I think he did a nice
job out there.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
And he had an interception when he was being held.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
Yes, it was an offensive pass interference goal that was
declined and he was able to I mean that was
that was pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
That was a great moment for catch.
Speaker 3 (29:04):
Yeah, you know, he's gonna have to do things like that, yeah,
you know what, to show that, hey, I'm capable of
going out here and making play. So, uh, the guys
have an opportunity, and that's what you wanted to play, opportunity,
But they have to show that they're capable of handling
the opportunity, handling the all the things that have come
with it, as far as playing defensive back and dealing
with the defense and being in lou anim Remove's defense
(29:26):
and all things that they need to do and show
the athleticism. So we'll see, it's gonna be tough, and
you know, hopefully Juju and and Jalen could come back
and soft tissues, you know, can they can take care
of those things and they can be healthy for the
rest of the season. But it's gonna be important and
imperative for those other guys to step up and show
that they're capable of playing and stepping in and doing
(29:47):
the job.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
So one final thing here on instant reaction, I thought
the play of the special teams drew some attention, not
in a good way. Not in a good way. I
thought it was a really rough game for the coverage
in both and punt return yesterday we saw an eighty
seven yard punt return for a touchdown and then also
a sixty nine yard kick return that looked like it
(30:10):
could have been taken to the house. Spencer Schrader was
able to get his hands on, you know, the waist
and it was allowing I think it was Rodney Thomas
who was able to catch him from behind and you know,
save them from scoring a touchdown. But what was the
biggest reason the Colts allowed such explosive plays in the
return game yesterday?
Speaker 3 (30:28):
It looked like for me it was just lack of
land integrity, not being in your proper lands and once
one person gets out of the lane, it messes up
everything for the rest of the team, and then it
has a makes a big opening for the return to
hit that lane and make a big play, which the
Ravens did in the game. So that and a lot
(30:50):
of times you have guys out there that, you know what,
they're trying to make a play, they want to make
a play, and they kind of go outside of staying
in the lane and doing what the're supposed to doing
trying to make a play instead of just doing your
job letting the play come to you. So I think
that was one. And then also tackling. You know, you
have to tackle guys. If you can't tackle, it's going
to be very difficult. So that's something they're gonna have
(31:11):
to clean up. You know, some of those guys will
they will will they be on the team. We don't
know he's going to be on the team. Who's not
going to be on the team. But they still need
to clean that up. And you want a good operation.
When it talks about special teams, it's one third of
the game. It's very important. So you have to be
on your p's and q's out there on your special
teams and don't relax because they think, ah, it's just
(31:32):
just another play.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
No, it's an important play in a game.
Speaker 3 (31:36):
So, uh, they're gonna have to clean that up, which
I think they will clean it up. I mean, you know,
coach Mason will clean up. I'm sure he's not happy.
I'm sure he's not happy knowing Coach Mason about that,
But they'll clean it up and get things straightened out.
And if they can do that, I think there are
special teams will be pretty.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
Special and and real quick.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
On the flip side, I think we did see Spencer
Strader looked pretty good yesterday. He was three or four
on his field goals, one of two from fifty plus.
But I think if you tell Spencer we're gonna go
into a game, you're gonna go three for four on
field goals with the one miss being fifty plus, I
think you can live with that.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
I mean the one that he did make, the fifty
yard was.
Speaker 4 (32:16):
That was booming and right down the middle.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
I mean, man, he's got a leg and by.
Speaker 3 (32:20):
We talked about the ball just carry it just booms
off his foot. So I think you saw his leg
strength there and now he's just a matter of him
being a little bit more consistent. Yep, you know, a
little bit more accurate. But I think he'll be fine.
The one he did miss, it hit off the up right,
ye yeahah, so it's not too far off there. But
(32:42):
I think you saw Smeti Strada's leg when he made
that fifty yard Well.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
There you go. That's gonna do it.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
For the first installment of instant reaction following that first
preseason game of the twenty twenty five season, as the
Colts fall to the Ravens in Baltimore twenty four to sixteen, Bill,
I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
Man, thanks, thank you. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
We've we've became accustomed to each other.
Speaker 2 (33:03):
We spent a lot of time yesterday, yes was at four.
We started the pregame huddle on locally radio wise at
four o'clock and finished.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
It on one.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
All right, I'm gonna take a break from you, all right, Bill,
I'll see you tomorrow when the Colts are back to practice.
Speaker 4 (33:19):
Yes, we'll see up at Westfield.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
No, there's no rest for us here, but yeah, the
Colts they return up to Grand Park for training camp.
We have practice Saturday, Sunday, Monday, a couple days off
on the field before taking practice on Thursday for the
joint joint work with the Green Bay Packers, and then
culminating on the preseason game next Saturday, the first home
(33:41):
game for the Colts, so the first time they'll play
inside Lucas Oil Stadium. And we will be back for
instant reaction coming up on Saturday. But for Bill Brooks,
I'm Casey Value. Thank you so much. This has been
instant reaction.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!