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November 24, 2007

Colts ready to rest up before AFC South battle with Jaguars

By Tom James

INDIANAPOLIS — After completing a rugged six-game schedule that stretched over the past month, the Indianapolis Colts have earned some much-needed rest.

Now, armed with a 9-2 record, the injury-riddled Colts will attempt to enjoy a brief respite before beginning preparations for their Dec. 2 home game with Jacksonville.

Shortly after watching his team post a 31-13 win over Atlanta on Thursday evening, Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy told his players and coaching staff to get away from football for three days. With an important AFC South matchup with the Jaguars right around the corner, Dungy hopes everybody takes his advice during this mini-bye week.

“We’ve cleared out the coaches and everything and just want them to get away,” he said Friday during his usual day-after-game press conference. “We’ve kind of set it up that way and talked about it last month, at the beginning of November, how tough the stretch [of games] was going to be. But we’d get some time to regroup and start that December push.

”A lot of guys went home right from the game [Thursday] night. The coaches, we’re going to take three days off and then come in and start fresh on Monday. I think it’s going to help us mentally and physically.”

As it stands now, the Colts will probably have a brief workout Monday, take Tuesday off, and then get back to business Wednesday. Due to the recent rash of injuries that has hit key players on the team, Dungy has shied away from working in full pads.

But with the Jacksonville showdown coming up, that is expected to change. The Colts own a one-game lead over the Jaguars, so this could turn out to be the biggest game of the year yet for Dungy’s crew.

“It is right now. If we win the game, we’ll basically be three games ahead with four games left to play. If we lose the game, we’ll be tied [with Jacksonville],” he said. “So it’s kind of a game that’s probably going to determine the division championship. And we’ve got to approach it that way. I’m sure [the Jaguars] are going to approach it that way. It’s going to be a big game.”

• • •

• Pleased with effort — The win over Atlanta allowed the Colts to complete a stretch of six games over 31 days. While the performance against the Falcons was a bit spotty at times, both mentally and physically, Indianapolis was able to make more than enough big plays on both sides of the ball.

”It’s good to have that win and be 9-2. That was our goal, to come out of November that way, and we did it. That was probably the best thing about the game. I think the whole thing — the experience of playing at night, Thanksgiving night, the whole thing — we didn’t play as sharp as we would have hoped,” Dungy admitted.

”Some of the things that happened were the result of Atlanta, some of them were the result of us not being where we needed to be. But to go down there and get that win, that was our goal. And we did some things much better. Our offensive output. We got [wide receiver] Anthony Gonzalez going. I thought that [tight end] Dallas [Clark] made some big plays. We got all of our receivers involved. Our offensive line, even with the second half having [offensive guard] Jake Scott at tackle and Mike Toudouze again, they did a great job. So there were some positive things there.”

And then there were the mistakes.

”The negative, we kind of shot ourselves in the foot on some mistakes. Not guys getting beat but just not being on top of the details of who we’re going to block and some things like that. Defensively, we had a couple penalties that hurt us and things that way. Some second chances that we gave them, some things that will come back and haunt you in tight games. So we’ve got to get that squared away. But our effort was good. We made some good, physical plays,” the Colts’ coach said.

”Special teams, I thought we covered well, except for one kick where [Jerious] Norwood outran us. But that was better. Atlanta has a good special-team unit. With all the negatives and just the little misfires, still a lot of positive things I think we can build on. But the biggest thing for us will be to get these three days rest, come back and really have some good practices next week. I think that’s going to be so beneficial to us. So I’m excited where we are. I think we can make a good December stretch run.”

• Gonzalez returns — Gonzalez, a rookie, had the first 100-yard receiving game of his NFL career, catching a team-high six passes for a game-high 105 yards. He had missed the previous two games with a dislocated left thumb.

”It’s hard to explain how helpless you feel when you’re hurt and you can’t play. You work so hard and you’re only guaranteed 16 chances, and [when] some of ’em are taken away from you, it’s pretty disappointing. To come back and be able to contribute to a win was very rewarding for me,” Gonzalez said.

Quarterback Peyton Manning was glad to have him back on the field.

”He’s a guy that’s been here since mini-camp and I have had some repetitions with him. He’s still a young player, but he definitely made a couple of big plays for us,” Manning said. “That first play [a 35-yard reception at the end of the first quarter] kind of got us going, got us a little momentum.”

• Injury update — Indianapolis came out of Thursday night’s game in relatively good shape. Running back Joseph Addai, who had 44 yards in 10 carries and had a 4-yard touchdown run, left in the first quarter with a sprained neck. He was able to return, although he did see limited playing time the rest of the evening.

Offensive tackle Charlie Johnson, who incurred an ankle injury against San Diego two weeks ago, suffered a hamstring strain in the second half of the Falcons game. He did not return. Tight end Ben Utecht rolled his ankle in the fourth quarter, but the injury wasn’t considered serious.

Rookie cornerback Dante Hughes — who was burned for Atlanta’s only touchdown, a 48-yard pass from Joey Harrington to Roddy White — suffered a shoulder injury and saw limited playing time. He had hurt his other shoulder at San Diego.

Sitting out the Falcons game were wide receiver Marvin Harrison (bruised left knee); safety Matt Giordano (hamstring); strong-side linebacker Tyjuan Hagler (neck); offensive tackles Tony Ugoh (neck), Ryan Diem (ankle) and Daniel Federkiel (concussion); and cornerback Tim Jennings (upper leg).

Dungy continues to hold out hope that most, if not all, of those players will be able to return for the Jacksonville game. Harrison has sat out six of the Colts’ past seven games.

“It was nice to have some of our guys back [for the Atlanta game],” Dungy said. “We came into the lockerroom [after the game] feeling good. We get some rest now, some time off, which I think our team really needs, and we’ll get some guys back, I think, for the stretch run in December. All things considered, I think we’re in good shape and very happy where we are and looking at a December that’s going to be meaningful.”

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