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May 20, 2007

Colts sticking with two-back ground attack

By Tom James The Tribune Star Sun May 20, 2007, 11:00 PM EDT

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts had plenty of success with their two-pronged running attack en route to the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship last February. So much so that Colts coach Tony Dungy is intent on keeping the system in place despite the free-agency loss of Dominic Rhodes to the Oakland Raiders.

Yes, 2006 first-round draft pick Joseph Addai is back and will continue in his role as the team’s first-team runner. But the question still remains as to just who will fill the sizable gap created by Rhodes’ departure.

Will it be second-year pro DeDe Dorsey, who spent most of the 2006 season splitting time as the Colts’ third-string running back and on special-teams duty after he was picked up off the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad at the end of training camp last summer.

Or could it possibly be former Canadian Football League standout Kenton Keith, who is the oldest of the running backs (26) but is in his first year with Indianapolis. He has spent the last four seasons playing with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, where he rushed for 3,811 yards and 21 touchdowns in 54 career games.

A pair of undrafted rookies — Clifton Dawson, who played collegiately at Harvard, and Chris Morgan from Indiana University-Pennsylvania — are also in the mix and may have a shot of earning a spot on the roster this fall. Veteran James Mungro, who missed all of the 2006 season with a knee injury, is a restricted free agent but remains unsigned. He could be brought back at a later date.

For the time being, though, the battle is expected to come down primarily to either Dorsey, who gained valuable experience a year ago in learning the Colts’ intricate offensive system, and Keith.

“With Dominic being gone, me and Joseph are the veteran guys. I’m getting a lot more looks, even during the mini-camps. I’m taking more reps with [the first-team offense],” Dorsey said Sunday as Indianapolis wrapped up three days of mandatory workouts.

“Being here last year and being around our offense, it’s helped me. It’s not brand new to me, so I’m more confident in the moves that I make and everything that goes on.”

An NAIA All-American as both a cornerback and running back at Lindenwood University, Dorsey was a bright spot in the Bengals’ training camp last summer. An ankle injury cut short his time with Cincinnati, but he was good enough to be one of the team’s top rushers during the 2006 preseason.

“I think [Indianapolis coaches] have confidence in me and my ability to get out and catch passes as well as running the ball and protect [Colts quarterback] Peyton [Manning]. Not playing last year really helped me a lot. I got to sit back and watch exactly how it was to be done. I could imitate that rather than being thrown in there right off the bat and not knowing anything at all. I learned the patience that is required for this offense. I learned how to be patient and let things happen.”

Dungy has been impressed with what he’s seen of Dorsey since he’s been with the Colts. Dungy works with the scout team during the regular season, affording him the opportunity to keep a close eye on the Broken Arrow, Okla., native.

“He’s doing fine. He’s obviously more adjusted to our offense than our other new backs. But we expect a lot out of him and I think he’s walking with a little confidence this year too,” Dungy said recently. “He has some running skills. He’s very quick through the hole and I think he’s a fairly tough guy. We saw him a little bit on special teams last year and he did some good things on the [scout] squad simulating other backs. I think he has a feel for the game. He’s smart and I think he’s going to be fairly tough.”

n Young old men — Addai is just in his second season with the Colts. Safety Bob Sanders is entering his fourth National Football League season. But they will be the most experienced players at their respective positions entering training camp.

With Rhodes gone and Mungro still on the outside looking in, Addai may be getting a heavier workload during the early stages of the 2007 season.

“I took a lot from Dominic and I understood a lot. He helped me out a lot. But I think I’ve got the will power now to go in there, if I have to [and get the bulk of the carries]. You never know the situation. You never know if you’ve got to split time or if you’ve got to take the full load. But whatever the plan might be, I’m ready for it,” Addai said Sunday.

“[A two-back system] has it’s advantages and disadvantages. If I have to [carry the ball more], I’ll still be fresh. I mean, everybody wants to be the guy. But if that’s the system we have to play in, I don’t mind.”

Sanders, meanwhile, continues to recover from shoulder surgery that he underwent nearly three months ago. The procedure was done in order to clean up some issues that were left over from surgery he had last fall. He remains uncertain as to when he will be able to return to a full practice regimen.

“Still working out, rehabbing. I’m like two-and-a-half months out of surgery. It’s going well. I’m way ahead of schedule. Just looking forward to competing, continuing to get better and keep studying,” he said, adding that he hopes the most recent surgery will help keep him on the field longer this year.

“[The surgery] was pretty similar [to what he had done last fall]. Same kind of thing. It didn’t hold up very well towards the end of the year and we had to go back in and clean up a few things. But I feel better.”

n Dungy misses Sunday practices — Dungy usually has a pretty good reason for missing a practice. Or even two practices, for that matter.

That was the case Sunday as assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell was in charge for the Colts’ final two mandatory mini-camp workouts. Dungy, meanwhile, was in Atlanta along with the rest of his immediate family attending graduation exercises at Spelman College for his oldest daughter, Tiara.

He is expected back in time for the start of organized team activity sessions, which get under way Tuesday.

n Freeney around for all three days, Gonzalez kept in Los Angeles — Defensive end Dwight Freeney, the Colts’ franchise player, attended all three days of the mini-camp but did not practice. First-round draft pick Anthony Gonzalez was forced to miss the workouts by the NFL in order to attend a league-mandated event in Los Angeles.

Gonzalez had attempted to bow out of the California trip in order to attend the mini-camp. Due to school-related obligations at Ohio State, he will also miss an early portion of the team’s summer school practices.

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