By Tom James
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts are going into Sunday’s AFC South matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars without the services of hard-hitting strong safety Bob Sanders, but Colts coach Tony Dungy isn’t showing any great concern.
Sanders, who has missed 25 of 66 regular-season games with a variety of foot, knee and rib injuries since being selected in the second round of the 2004 NFL draft, will be sidelined for the next four to six weeks with a high right ankle sprain. The reigning league Defensive Player of the Year is also expected to undergo arthroscopic cleanup procedure on one of his knees during his time away.
Second-year safety Melvin Bullitt will take over in the Indianapolis secondary and Dungy is confident that the former Texas A&M; defensive back can handle the job. Bullitt played well as he filled in for Sanders in the Colts’ defensive lineup during the fourth quarter of last week’s 18-15 come-from-behind win over Minnesota.
“[Sanders’ absence] won’t change what we do. Obviously when you lose a great player, other guys have to step up their performance. You can’t expect the player who comes in to be able to do all the same things, but we’re not going to really change what we do. And Melvin Bullitt is going to play and he’ll do a great job,” Dungy said earlier this week.
A former undrafted free agent in 2007, Bullitt has steadily moved up the Indianapolis defensive depth-chart since signing with the team. He has taken over as the primary backup at strong safety, getting work with the Colts’ first-team defensive unit when Sanders was given days off to rest some of his old injuries.
“Melvin played the fourth quarter of the [Vikings] game and did a good job in there. We actually played a little better, with the team effort,” the Colts coach said. “I don’t know that Melvin played better than Bob did, but we stopped [Minnesota running back Adrian] Peterson a little bit better in that fourth quarter.”
Due to the amount of injuries on the defensive side of the football that the Colts have been forced to deal with over the past couple of seasons, the Indianapolis coaching staff has become somewhat accustomed to having backup players move into the starting lineup and playing relatively well.
“You really don’t change a lot. You may simplify a little bit and maybe not do quite as much when you have a lot of young guys in there. But we’ve been in this situation before,” Dungy explained.
“We were in it quite a bit last year [with injuries with several defensive starters]. We have some good experience from last year having to play games with seven or eight guys that couldn’t go. That’s why you have 53 players and that’s why you have training camp, to try and develop those guys and find out who can do it for you. The guys, normally when they get a chance, they step in and they do pretty well.”
Not having Sanders in the defensive lineup, though, would seem to be especially crucial this week with the Jaguars coming to Lucas Oil Stadium. Jacksonville, who featured running backs Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew, figure to be looking forward to facing a Colts’ team that has struggled to stop the run at times this season.
The Colts remember the final 2006 meeting between the two franchises when Jacksonville rolled up 375 yards on the ground with Sanders sitting out with an injury. Injuries on the Jaguars offensive line this year, though, may tend to balance things out.
“I’m sure that’s what [Jacksonville is] thinking of too. I know they’re going to try and get their running game going. You’ve got two backs who are probably in the top six backs in the league and they’re both averaging under three yards a carry,” Dungy said.
“That’s not characteristic of Jacksonville. We know they’re going to try and get that thing going. You see even on tape some of the runs they’re making are unbelievable and still making guys miss and running through people. So we know we’re going to see a heavy dose of that and we have to do a good job and see if we can hold them down as some of these other teams have held them down.”
• Saturday, Clark, Dawson expect to play — Center Jeff Saturday (knee), tight end Dallas Clark (knee) and defensive tackle Keyunta Dawson (ankle) are all expected to be in the starting lineup Sunday against the Jaguars.
Saturday and Clark have gone through full workouts all week while Dawson was able to return for Friday’s practice after sitting out Wednesday and Thursday. Defensive tackle Daniel Muir (knee) is not expected to play this week, although a final decision on his availability hasn’t been made as of yet.
“Daniel Muir is doing better. He feels like he’s getting closer and closer to being ready to go,” Dungy said. “Keyunta may have a chance to play. He’s maintained all week that he’s going to be able to play. It looks more promising [Friday] than it did [Thursday].”
Dawson thinks that he’ll be ready to play against Jacksonville.
“I’ve been getting a lot of work with the treatment guys. They’ve been working hard with me and helping me to get back to where I need to be,” he said after Friday’s workout.
The status of safety Matt Giordano, who sat out Thursday and Friday with back spasms, remains up in the air.
“We’re hopeful that he’s going to be ready to go,” Dungy said.
Dawson, Giordano, and Muir are all listed as questionable for Sunday’s game. Cornerback Marlin Jackson (hip), who saw limited work on Thursday and went through a full practice on Friday, is probable. Wide receiver Marvin Harrison was allowed to sit out Friday’s workout to rest. He will start against the Jaguars.
Sanders, wide receiver Roy Hall (knee), offensive guard Mike Pollak (knee), tight end Jacob Tamme (ankle) and offensive tackle Tony Ugoh (groin) will not be available for the Jacksonville game.
• Game tickets available — Jacksonville team officials have returned approximately 200 tickets to the Colts for Sunday’s game.
Those tickets may be purchased by contacting the Lucas Oil Stadium ticket office, at all TicketMaster locations (www.ticketmaster.com) and at charge-by-phone at 317-239-5151.
