By Tom James
INDIANAPOLIS — And then there was one.
In the wake of Saturday night’s 24-17 loss by the New Orleans Saints to the Dallas Cowboys, the Indianapolis Colts find themselves as the National Football League’s lone remaining undefeated team.
Indianapolis will take a 14-0 record into this Sunday’s home game with the New York Jets (4:15 p.m., Lucas Oil Stadium). Coach Jim Caldwell, though, has yet to make a decision whether or not he will play his starters the whole way against New York.
“We’re going to prepare [for the Jets game] the same way we’ve been preparing all along. I think that’s a very, very important part of what we do. I think that’s why our guys have been able to stay sharp and function and stay focused. We keep our edge, I think, and that’s not going to change,” Caldwell said Monday.
“In terms of how we’re going to handle who’s going to play [against New York], we’re still going to base it on the health of each and every one of our players. As to what their situation is, the medical professionals will certainly give us direction in that. And that’s how we’ll proceed in terms of playing this Jets team.”
The Colts used most of their starters throughout last Thursday’s 35-31 win over AFC South rival Jacksonville. Defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis both saw limited work due to minor injuries while rookie cornerback Jerraud Powers missed the game with a sore hamstring. Rookie running back Donald Brown also was sidelined with a chest injury.
Indianapolis did not practice Friday and Caldwell gave the team the weekend off in order to help injuries heal. The team practiced Monday afternoon and will begin full-scale work on the Jets on Wednesday.
“These three days [off] were very good to us and for us. I think some guys were able to certainly gain some health benefits from this little respite,” Caldwell said.
“But they get back [Monday]. Our [medical] guys will have an opportunity to kind of get a real good look at them, to finalize some of the situations in terms of just overall health. And then, like most weeks, it just takes a while during the course of practice. So we’ll have an idea what to expect and how we can utilize them come game time. For a guy to be excluded from the game, it will be a health issue. And that’s kind of what we’re looking at.”
Caldwell added that he has not decided on whether to limit anybody’s playing time this week.
“Right now I could not tell you exactly what it’s going to be, whether or not a guy plays one series or the entire game. I couldn’t tell you that honestly right now,” he said. “The other thing is the health also includes, obviously, looking at them from a standpoint at what they’re going to be able to do in the future as well. That’s also included.”
The Colts coach added that he isn’t sure when he’ll be able to offer more detail on who will play this week and for how long.
“I’m not certain. I can’t tell you that. All I know is, last week [against Jacksonville] for example, we didn’t know until 90 minutes before the game whether or not [defensive tackle] Eric Foster was going to be able to play. I would assume there may be some other scenarios similar to that,” Caldwell said.
“So we’ll tell you what we can. We don’t want to be misleading. But there may be some adjustments that have to be made depending on the health of our squad.”
• Last team standing — Caldwell said he is gratified that Indianapolis remains as the league’s last remaining undefeated team.
“Obviously, it’s an honor for our team to have an opportunity to stand alone at this point, but the fact of the matter is that it is a real task to maintain this position, as well. I think our guys are certainly up to that challenge,” he said, adding that he’ll most likely talk to his team about what happened to the Saints.
“That’s one of the things we try to do, week in and week out. Point out some of those situations that occur [in other NFL games] so that we don’t get complacent, so that we continue to work hard and stay sharp. Those things are important to remind them as often as possible.”
• Gonzalez, Brown return to practice — Wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez and Brown took part in Monday afternoon’s short workout.
Gonzalez has been sidelined since suffering a right knee injury Sept. 13 in the season opener with Jacksonville. He was due back in mid-November but underwent arthroscopic surgery, which had delayed his return.
Brown, meanwhile, suffered a chest injury against Baltimore on Nov. 29 and has not played since. He had been sidelined earlier in the season, missing two games with a shoulder injury that he incurred against St. Louis on Oct. 25.
It’s not known whether either player will be able to play against the Jets this week.
