By Tom James
INDIANAPOLIS — Expect most of the Indianapolis Colts starters to play deep into the third quarter when the Buffalo Bills pay a preseason visit to Lucas Oil Stadium Sunday night. The game, which will be televised nationally (NFL Network, 8 p.m.), will also be the one of the final opportunities for several of the team’s players to impress the coaching staff before the start of NFL-mandated cuts early next week.
The meeting with Buffalo will also be the first-ever home game for the Colts at their new stadium, a fact that Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy isn’t taking lightly.
“We really want to go out and play well. We are planning on playing our starters through the third quarter and trying to get a feel of a game situation coming out after halftime. We’re just looking forward to seeing how we play. And want to make some improvement from last week [a 16-9 win over Atlanta],” Dungy said Friday.
Defensive end Dwight Freeney (foot) and safety Bob Sanders (shoulder) are expected to get their first taste of preseason football, although their time in the game will probably be limited. Freeney and Sanders both began practicing this week after spending the first three weeks of training camp on the team’s physically unable to perform list.
“My sense is they probably will [play],” the Colts coach said, adding that he will wait until today before deciding who will be sidelined Sunday night. Among those missing practice Friday were defensive ends Robert Mathis [ankle], Marcus Howard (strained oblique muscle), Raheem Brock (ankle), and Curtis Johnson (shoulder]; defensive tackles Ed Johnson (injury unknown) and Eric Foster (calf), linebackers Philip Wheeler (knee) and Freddy Keiaho (injury unknown); wide receiver Roy Hall (hamstring) and offensive guard Mike Pollak (knee).
“We’re going to make some decisions after [Friday’s] practice and we’ll basically see how things go,” Dungy said.
Sanders and Freeney are both itching to get some work against the Bills, although they both know they will be monitored closely by coaches and the team’s athletic training staff.
“I feel good. I feel mentally prepared. I’m excited to get out there and move around and get that game speed so when it’s time to kick it off first game of the season I’m ready,” Sanders said after Friday’s workout. ”As far as how many reps I’m going to get, I’m not sure. I think we’re just going to go in and start the game off and kind of see how I feel, get a feel for a series or two and make a decision from there.”
As for getting his game legs back, the 2007 NFL Defensive Player of the Year doesn’t think that will be much of a problem. But he’s willing to wait a bit before declaring himself completely ready for the start of the 2008 season.
“I don’t know. We’ll see. I’ve had a lot of rest so my thing will be to go and keep playing,” Sanders said.
• Finishing drives — If there’s one objective that Dungy and offensive coordinator Tom Moore would like to accomplish Sunday night, it would be to finish off their drives with touchdowns instead of field goals. The Colts have scored just three offensive touchdowns in their first three preseason games, none by the first team unit.
“We’ve moved the ball and we haven’t had a ton of errors with our first group. So that’s been good. The one disappointing thing is we haven’t pushed it into the end zone enough. We’ve had some long drives, we’ve settled for field goals in the red zone. And if there’s been one thing disappointing about our offense in general, it’s been that red zone production,” the Colts coach said.
“But we’ve done a lot of good things and we’re just zeroing in. We took a lot more plays in the red zone in practice this week just to put a little more emphasis on it.”
• Cuts coming — The first official round of league-mandated cuts will occur on Tuesday when teams must trim five players from their rosters, going from the training camp limit of 80 to 75.
After next week’s schedule of preseason games, rosters will then be narrowed to the regular-season limit of 53. Teams must be down to their final roster numbers by Saturday, Aug. 30.
• Special visit from Faulk — Former Colts running back Marshall Faulk was a visitor at the team’s complex Friday. Faulk, who was Indianapolis’ first-round draft choice in 1994, retired from the St. Louis Rams last year. He is in town to work the Buffalo game for the NFL Network.
He watched the workout along with former Green Bay Packers receiver Sterling Sharpe, who will be the game analyst on Sunday night’s broadcast.
