TERRE HAUTE — The Indianapolis Colts went through their first two practices of training camp Monday, but veteran defensive tackle Corey Simon was no where to be seen. Simon’s status with the Colts for the upcoming season, which has been considered tenuous at best, remains an unanswered question.

Colts team president Bill Polian didn’t have much to say about the issue following Monday’s morning session. But he did acknowledge that he was awaiting word from Indianapolis’ medical staff regarding Simon’s physical.

“We’re waiting for discussion from the doctors on the Simon physical, so I have no resolution on that at this point. I suspect we’ll have one relatively soon,” Polian said. “It’s really in the hands of the doctors at this point. It’s their timetable.”

After suffering a knee injury during training camp last August, Simon’s recovery was slowed by an undisclosed illness. He was placed on the team’s non-football illness/injury list and wound up missing the entire 2006 season, which led to the Colts attempting to withhold a portion of his salary.

Simon and his representatives consequently filed a grievance with the NFL’s player union in an effort to recoup all or a portion of that money. Indianapolis officials then filed a counter-grievance, which is still pending.

So it came as somewhat of a minor surprise when Simon’s agent, Roosevelt Barnes, announced last week that his client would be reporting to training camp Sunday. Simon has been on the Colts’ active roster since the end of last season, but his future with the team appeared — and most likely continues to be — iffy at best.

“If he passed [his physical], our options would be to release him or to keep him on the active roster,” Polian explained. “I have no idea what the doctors will say. We’re waiting their interpretation of some test results, so we’ll see.”

When asked what might happen if Simon cleared all his medical hurdles, the Colts’ general manager remained uncommitted.

“I don’t want to address that at this point. It remains to be seen as to what the results will show. That’s how we’ll deal with it,” Polian said.

Colts coach Tony Dungy, meanwhile, was under the impression Monday that Simon had failed his physical.

“That’s Bill’s department. I don’t know exactly what happened with the physical. All my understanding was he didn’t pass the physical. I don’t know what that means, what list he’s on, at this point,” he said.

“There’s a couple of different lists that we could put him on, dependent on what those results are and when they think he would be able to play again. That’s kind of a best-case estimate with all our guys.”

• • •

• First day of practice goes well — With temperatures in the high 80s Monday, the Colts began their ninth year of training camp at Rose-Hulman in relatively good shape. The crowds numbered 1,717 for the morning session and the attendance didn’t slack off much for the afternoon practice.

“To get back out this morning and get going with our players, [we] had quite a few fans out here, so that was nice to see,” Dungy said. “But more than anything, just getting back to the routine, just getting back into some contact. I thought our guys came in with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Just the way we had hoped. It was a good first day all around.”

Coming off a Super Bowl victory, the Indianapolis coach met with his players Sunday afternoon and evening in an effort to set the tone for camp and the upcoming season. One of the first topics of discussion was the recent retirement of veteran offensive tackle Tarik Glenn and what his loss means to the team.

“I talked to the team last night. We lost some guys last year in free agency. Edgerrin James, Larry Tripplett, David Thornton. We lost some guys during the season. Montae Reagor had a car accident. Corey Simon had an illness. Brandon Stokley had an Achilles’ tendon [injury] during the season. We lost Ryan Diem and Nick Harper in the Super Bowl. So that’s what football is all about,” Dungy said.

“You’d love to have every player, all year, no injuries, no problems. It doesn’t happen that way. We were able to overcome it last year. We have a lot of guys here in camp that will work. Last year at this time, nobody knew who Charlie Johnson was, a few people knew who Joseph Addai was. We got Anthony McFarland in midseason. So guys come from everywhere, from within the system and from without. And we’ll make do.”

• Dungy, Mudd remember Bill Walsh — The announcement Monday afternoon that former San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh had died after a long battle with leukemia hit especially close to home for two members of the Indianapolis coaching staff.

Dungy played for Walsh in 1979, coming to the 49ers in a trade that sent Ray Rhodes to Pittsburgh. Offensive-line coach Howard Mudd was a longtime friend of the Hall of Fame coach.

“It was really tough for me,” Dungy said. “I played for him for one year and then certainly learned a lot. But even more than that, he was so supportive all throughout my career. He did a lot for African-American coaches, I think coaches in general. Bill was very innovative and very much a winner and somebody I learned a lot from and a very good friend.

“So I hate that it happened. It was just one of those things that really touches you. I just wish the best to his family. But somebody that I’ll definitely miss.”

In an ironic twist of fate, it was Walsh’s hiring of Dennis Green as an assistant that helped Dungy during his own rise in the profession.

“At a time when most team didn’t have any black coaches, that’s where I met Denny Green,” Dungy said. “He’d hired Denny and Billy Matthews. Billy started the minority internship program. [Walsh] hired Ray Rhodes [as an assistant]. Shortly after that, [Rhodes] got his [coaching] career going. And so he was very socially conscious. He wanted football to be good and he wanted the game to be good on the field. But he thought about things off the field as well. That ‘s what was special about him.”

Mudd, meanwhile, said that he was proud to call Walsh a special friend.

“Bill, what a genius. What an impact he’s had on the history of our league. Not just in his time. But so many things that he changed about the way things were done. All of us in the NFL practice the way that Bill Walsh organized it. All of us look at some form of it,” he recalled.

“Such detail that everything was broken down into real refined detail, including the way a [pass] route was run. The way the quarterback read it, the footwork, the steps. And yet he didn’t make them mechanical men. He took quarterbacks that could run and made them run. He had two of them at San Francisco that could run. Dan Fouts couldn’t run. So he took him and put in a disciplined setting. And [former Cincinnati quarterback] Kenny Anderson wasn’t a runner and he did great things there. [Walsh] will be very, very sorely missed. I’m a little sad. He was a good friend. A great friend, actually.”

Mudd recalled a poignant conversation he had with former Bengals tight end Bob Trumpy last fall about Walsh’s declining health.

“He would come around and said ‘If you don’t know, Bill is checking out. It’s getting close. And he’s trying to connect with all of his people.’ And Randy Cross also said something. I got Bill’s cell phone number and it was like I had given him a million dollars because I called him. What a blessing it was that he could be a part of my life. He impacted the history of our game probably more than any single person,” Mudd said.

• Pitcock still not officially in camp — Third-round draft choice Quinn Pitcock remains on the outside looking in. The former Ohio State defensive tackle had not passed his physical as of Monday morning.

For the time being, Pitcock has been placed on the team’s reserved/drafted unsigned list.

• Injury list — Safety Bob Sanders and outside linebacker Keith O’Neill were both placed on the team’s physically unable to perform list Monday, although Dungy said that they could return to practice after the team’s preseason opener at Dallas on Aug. 9.

Sanders is recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, while O’Neill had a medical procedure done this spring to repair a sports hernia.

“We anticipate them starting practice in the very near future, probably after the Dallas game. We’ll see how it goes. But right now, they’re on schedule. We knew going in that they weren’t going to start [on] the opening day of practice. But they’re working out and they actually ran with [director of rehabilitation] Erin [Barill] this morning and did fine,” Dungy said.

Also, Indianapolis placed rookie safety Antonio Smith on injured reserve and are likely to do the same with rookie wide receiver Michael DePriest later this week. The nature of their injuries were not disclosed, although Smith was bothered by a foot injury during spring workouts.

• Roster moves — Polian confirmed Monday that the Colts had claimed former Clemson cornerback Duane Coleman off waivers from the Buffalo Bills.

Coleman, who began his collegiate career as a running back, was undrafted after the 2006 college football season but signed a free agent contract with the Buffalo Bills. He was recently waived by the Bills.

Indianapolis has released rookie defensive tackle Quintin Echols and second-year center Albert Bimper. Bimper spent some time a year ago on the Colts’ practice roster.

• Call me Dante — Rookie cornerback Daymeion Hughes has requested that he now be referred to by his middle name, Dante, instead of his first name.

Hughes, who played at the University of California, was one of the Colts’ two third-round draft picks this year. He signed with the team Sunday.



Tom James can be reached by e-mail at TJames1475@aol.com.