Indianapolis cuts high-profile names to set season roster

Jamie Petrowski placed on waived-injured list

By Tom James

INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Colts team president Bill Polian had made it clear in the wake of last Thursday night’s 38-7 preseason loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. When it came to the Colts making their final roster cuts, it wouldn’t matter whether the players were draft picks or undrafted free agents.

Polian proved to be a man of his word. Indianapolis waived several high profile former draft picks when the team finally announced its final roster cutdown Saturday night. Among those released were running back Mike Hart, defensive end Marcus Howard, center Steve Justice, offensive tackle Jaimie Thomas, defensive tackle Terrance Taylor and cornerback Dante Hughes.

The remainder of the team’s waived list includes running backs Lance Ball and Walter Mendenhall; wide receivers Sam Giguere, John Matthews, Brett McDermott and Taj Smith; defensive tackles Adrian Grady and John Gill; offensive guard Tom Pestock; middle linebacker Michael Tauiliili; and defensive end Josh Thomas.

Defensive tackle Ed Johnson, who was re-signed to the Indianapolis roster this summer after sitting out most of the 2008 season, will not be counted on the team's active roster for next week’s regular season opener with Jacksonville. Johnson will be serving a league-mandated one-game suspension after being arrested last September for speeding and possession of marijuana.

Former Indiana State tight end Jamie Petrowski was one of three players placed on the Colts’ waived-injured list, along with cornerback Nick Graham and safety Travis Key. Petrowski suffered an injured left foot in the first quarter of the Bengals game and did not return. He underwent an MRI on Friday, but the results of that medical procedure have not yet been released.

If the Terre Haute native is not signed by another team, he could end up returning to the Colts and being placed on the injured reserve list.

Hughes was a third-round selection in 2007 who failed to find the consistency needed to be a productive NFL cornerback. Howard, a fifth-round pick in 2008, showed flashes of ability during limited playing time as a rookie but struggled during training camp and the preseason this year.

Hart, meanwhile, became a fan favorite after being a sixth-round selection last year. But a knee injury sidelined him for the second half of the 2008 season and he sprained both of his ankles this year during training camp. Taylor was one of two defensive tackles taken in this spring's draft but failed to show enough in the preseason to warrant keeping him around.

Grady and Tauiliili were both rookie undrafted free agents who impressed the Colts coaching staff this year. They could both end up on the team's practice squad early this week.

One local player who apparently survived the cutdown to 53 was rookie quarterback Curtis Painter, who was a sixth-round pick in this year's NFL draft. Painter, who attended Vincennes Lincoln and played at Purdue, gives the Colts three quarterbacks on the regular-season roster for the first time since 2004.

There was no official announcement on what the Colts planned to do with safety Bob Sanders, who has been on the team's physically unable to perform list since the start of training camp. Indianapolis could put Sanders on the injured list to begin the regular season, which would force him to miss the first six weeks (five total games) of the year.

n Former Colts also cut — A pretty good list of former Indianapolis players were cut by other NFL teams Saturday.

That list includes running back Dominic Rhodes (Buffalo), defensive tackle Dan Klecko (Philadelphia), outside linebacker Rocky Boiman (Tennessee), outside linebacker Buster Davis (Houston), wide receiver Courtney Roby (New Orleans), placekicker Dave Rayner (Washington) and placekicker Matt Bryant (Tampa Bay).

Also, two ex-Purdue players were released by their respective teams. Kansas City parted ways with safety Bernard Pollard and San Francisco cut rookie running back Kory Sheets.

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