TERRE HAUTE — It’s the annual question that NFL coaches, players and fans must face during the latter stages of every training camp — when it comes to playing in preseason games, how much work is too much work for the expected starters? Is the sole purpose of the preseason to win games? Or are preseason games to be used primarily as a time for development and evaluation of a team’s younger or less experienced players?
There are seemingly no correct answers. Fans who buy tickets for the games (at regular-season prices, by the way) want to see the stars play for as long as possible. Coaches, on the other hand, would rather get their key players into a game and then out as quickly as possible in an effort to avoid any potential season-ending injuries.
The usual rule of thumb, at least for the early preseason games, is for the starters to play for one or two series on either side of the ball before pulling them out. That usually changes by the time the third preseason game comes around, when the starters go for about two quarters and sometimes into the early stages of the third quarter before sitting down.
And the fourth preseason game? Forget it. If the starters get one series of work in, that’s a lot. Usually, backups and rookies who are fighting for a spot in the regular season roster get the majority of the playing time.
When it comes to the Indianapolis Colts, development and evaluation takes precedence over everything else. Do the Colts want to have a winning preseason record? In a word, yes. But recent history proves that you don’t have to win big in the summer to be successful in the fall.
Indianapolis is a prime example of that. The defending Super Bowl champions have lost 10 of their last 11 preseason games dating back to 2004, including an 0-5 mark in 2005. In case anybody doesn’t remember, the Colts began the 2005 regular season with 14 consecutive wins. Obviously, there wasn’t much of a carryover from the preseason that year.
In fact, since 2002, when Tony Dungy took over as the Colts’ head coach, the team has an impressive 14-2 record in the month of September. His preseason record during that same time period, however, is a lackluster 8-14 (counting last Thursday’s 23-10 loss at Dallas).
“You have different things that you want to accomplish [in the preseason]. And winning is one of them, but not the only one at that time,” Dungy explained Monday, adding that he is pleased of the way his teams have played at the beginning of each season.
“I think that’s more important. I’m glad that it’s not the other way around, that we’re not 14-2 in the preseason and 1-11 in September. I think our staff understands what we have to get done [during training camp and the preseason]. I think we do look at a lot of players. We put guys in situations where maybe they don’t do it in August the way we want to. But come September, they’re a little better versed in it and we feel a little better about our team. That’s what it’s all about.”
Although it’s been reported that first-year NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has continued a practice that was started by his predecessor, Paul Tagliabue, of sending out memos reminding teams and coaches to play their starters for a reasonable period of time during the preseason, Dungy said that wasn’t entirely the case.
“The commissioner said that we want to keep the integrity of the game, we want to try to win and show our fans that they’re important. And I think we all do that,” he said. “I think [Goodell] understands that you do want to win games. You want to play well. But we have different agendas too as coaches. And there’s things that we want to see. For me, my number one thing early on, is to try and decide who’s going to be on the team.
“So that does involve getting guys in different situations, trying to see young guys in pressurized situations to see how they do. And that’s something that you can’t, you really can’t do without. That’s why I’m one in favor of going to two preseason games like a lot of people talk. I remember [former Colts wide receiver and kick returner] Brad Pyatt coming on in the last preseason game. And we thought we could do it [return kicks], but it wasn’t until then that we really knew for sure. And if we’d have two preseason games, I don’t think Brad would have been on our team that year. He ended playing a big part in helping us win.”
• Not so fast starts — Although the Colts will take an 0-1 record into Monday night’s preseason home opener with the Chicago Bears, Dungy’s team is not alone in looking for a win.
New Orleans is currently 0-2, while New England, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Kansas City, San Diego, Atlanta, Minnesota, Arizona and the New York Giants are all 0-1. Six of the 12 teams winless so far in the preseason were in the playoffs a year ago. Two more teams could be added to the list after Monday night’s games that showcased Philadelphia at Baltimore and Denver at San Francisco.
• Bears can wait — The first part of practice this week will be devoted to working on fundamentals, with the Colts waiting until Friday to begin concentrating on their Super Bowl rematch with Chicago.
“We won’t look at any Bears stuff or talk about the Bears really until probably Friday,” Dungy said. “But this first part [of the week] is really things like we did [Monday], situational. Two-minute situations, end-of-the game situations, nine-on-seven running and really fundamental work. But we will prepare for them and we’ll go at it later on in the week.”
Indianapolis is scheduled to play their final three preseason games over a 12-day period. So the Colts want to take advantage of the extra time they have this week.
“This week, we knew what with the schedule was going to be, it was going to be a good practice week for us. We missed some things last week with the Thursday game. We’ll miss some things next week with a Monday-Saturday. So we knew we had a long time to work,” he said.
• Same amount of playing time at the Dome — Playing time for the starters against Chicago will be about the same as it was for last week’s preseason opener at Dallas. The first team offensive and defensive units will see a couple of series. After that, it’s going to be rookies and backups the rest of the way.
“This is the second preseason game. We’ll kind of use that formula. We’re going to play our first group probably into the second quarter and try to get some continuity going,” the Colts coach said. “The biggest thing for us right now is finding out is who is going to be on our 53-man [regular-season] roster.
“That’s what we’ll try to use that game for, rewarding those guys who played well in the first game and who have practiced well. Those guys will get more of a look.”
• Quarterbacks looking for work — With the release last week of free agent John Navarre, Indianapolis is now down to four quarterbacks on its training camp roster: starter Peyton Manning, primary backup Jim Sorgi, and a pair of first-year players in Josh Betts and Mike McGann.
Betts figures to be the odds-on favorite to remain as the team’s No. 3 signal caller, although it has yet to be determined if the Colts are going to keep three quarterbacks during the regular season.
“For Jim and Josh, [the preseason] is a time they know they’re going to get in the game,” Dungy said. “They get to show everybody else what they can do. They get their time. The backup quarterback is a tough position because once you get into the regular season, you don’t get that game activity to keep yourself sharp. So I know they look forward to this time.”
• Injury list — Among those who did not practice Monday were defensive end Noland Burchette (groin), safety Bob Sanders (shoulder), safety Brannon Condren (groin), wide receiver Roy Hall (calf), offensive tackle Gabe Hall (knee), running back Kenton Keith (ankle), defensive end/tackle Keyunta Dawson, outside linebacker Tyjuan Hagler (calf), outside linebacker KaMichael Hall and cornerback Dante Hughes (flu).
Offensive tackle Charlie Johnson (hip flexor), defensive end Bo Schobel (chest), and outside linebacker Keith O’Neil (abdomen/hip) all returned to practice.
The usual group of players who are on a one-practice-a-day regimen sat out the afternoon workout. That list included center Jeff Saturday, outside linebacker Clint Session, offensive guard Rick DeMulling, offensive tackle Ryan Diem, offensive guard Ryan Lilja, and defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock.
• Colts interested in Denver’s Warren? — According to published report Monday on denverpost.com, Miami and Indianapolis are two of the NFL teams mentioned as possible destinations for Broncos defensive tackle Gerard Warren.
Warren did not accompany the team to Monday’s night’s preseason game at San Francisco. The report says that Denver would be willing to pick up part of his salary if a deal could be completed.
Warren, who began his pro career with the Cleveland Browns, had 51 tackles and 21/2 sacks a year ago. He was the third player selected in the 2001 NFL draft.
The former University of Florida standout has not meshed well with the new defensive system being installed by first-year coordinator Jim Bates. He has been bothered by a turf toe injury for the last year. Denver is expected to try and trade the 6-foot-4, 325-pound Warren by the end of the week in exchange for a future draft pick.
Indianapolis might be in the market for a veteran defensive tackle after the loss of Anthony McFarland to a knee injury nearly two weeks ago.
• Morning practice an hour later — Colts fans attending training camp can take their time getting to Rose-Hulman this morning.
Today’s first practice isn’t scheduled to begin until 9:30 a.m., not 8:30 a.m. as most of the morning workouts have been the last two weeks. It is tentatively scheduled to end at 11 a.m. The afternoon special teams workout, meanwhile, is still set for 3:30 p.m. and should last about an hour.
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