Todd Golden
Tribune-Star Correspondent
INDIANAPOLIS —
A few words of advice for those diehard National Football League fans who plan on attending preseason contests this week: Remember that it’s the final round of exhibition games for NFL teams. Consequently, take a good hard look at the game program.
Since first-year players and veteran backups are slated to receive the bulk of the on-field work, memorizing as many names and numbers will no doubt help when trying to figure out who’s doing what.
Secondly, if fans want to see their favorite players in action, make sure to be in your stadium seats early. For those teams which actually plan on using front-line starters, they probably won’t be in the game for an extended period of time.
And for good reason. Teams don’t want starters to get hurt with little more than two weeks before the start of the regular season.
And, as much as fans have a legitimate gripe about paying full ticket prices for a preseason game, coaching staffs and personnel departments around the league view this weekend as the final time to make evaluations concerning those who may rest on the roster cut bubble.
NFL teams must trim their squads to a maximum of 53 players by 4 p.m. Saturday. An eight-man practice squad, meanwhile, will be announced a few days later.
Colts looking ahead to Cincinnati game — The Indianapolis Colts will face the Cincinnati Bengals (7 p.m., Channel 4) Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Even with rookies and backups slated to see most of the work, coach Jim Caldwell has some objectives that he wants to get accomplished.
“For the most part, we take this game into consideration and we are still trying to get better each and every week in all phases. This game in particular, we are trying to make certain we get guys in the right position to do our evaluations and stay sharp. And we are still looking for execution, although there are a lot of things we are still working on. Timing in terms of just an overall system from an offensive standpoint, that is extremely important for us. Effectiveness, obviously, in terms of the running game. Defensively, just running to the ball and tackling. Both of those phases have to be continued to be worked upon,” Caldwell said earlier this week.
“Then our kicking game as well. We still have to be a good, strong cover team. But we still have to make certain that we generate some return yardage as well. In some of those areas you can see some improvement, but we still are working to improve even more. That is a very, very important thing that is happening right now in terms of our team. Overall, we are just trying to find ways to get better.”
As for a gauge on how long the team’s starters, or key players, will play against the Bengals, the Colts’ second-year head coach said to refer to previous preseason finales.
“If you look at our history, don’t expect anything to deviate from the norm in that regard. Sometimes it depends a lot on the health of your team and those kinds of things as well. You take a look at those and have to adjust accordingly. We will look at that closer to game time and make our adjustments,” he said, adding that he’s been relatively pleased with how his team has progressed over the past several weeks.
“Obviously we are still in [the preseason]. It has been good up to this point. I don’t think there has been anything out of the ordinary. Every year you are faced with real challenges [such as injuries]. Sometimes it hits one position more than others, but that is not unusual. I think that is your typical training camp. As a matter of fact, I think those things serve to give you a little sense of what’s going to happen during the season. What you have to do is embrace those challenges and difficulties and move forward. Like I have said time and time again, we have to find ways to emerge out of those situations stronger. I think that is they key.”
Saturday returns to practice — Center Jeff Saturday (knee) saw limited work in Tuesday’s practice.
Saturday has not participated in workouts since undergoing surgery on right knee Aug. 10. He isn’t expected to play against the Bengals Thursday night.
In other injury news, safety Bob Sanders (rest), cornerback Jacob Lacey (concussion), cornerback Jerraud Powers (foot), rookie tight end Brody Eldridge (undisclosed), offensive tackle Adam Terry (undisclosed), offensive tackle Tony Ugoh (toe), offensive tackle Charlie Johnson (foot) and defensive tackle Antonio Johnson (groin) all sat out Tuesday’s workout.
Eight game officials Thursday night — The NFL will be experimenting with an eighth on-field official Thursday night.
Called a “deep judge,” the extra official will be positioned in the defensive backfield opposite the back judge. His primary responsibility is to watch for eligible receivers. But he also can help with watching other parts of the field as assignments have changed since the umpire was moved into the offensive backfield.
The NFL competition committee will evaluate video of the four games before deciding whether to add the official for the 2011 regular season.
Also, according to the New York Times, NFL teams received a memo Tuesday from the league office regarding minor changes to the positioning of the umpire, who now stands behind the offense instead of lining up on the defensive side of the ball.
The article, quoting Carl Johnson (the NFL’s Vice President for Officiating), said that NFL has reminded all seven members of the officiating crew have been told to hustle and spotting the ball has become more of a community assignment — with nearly every member of the crew having spotted the ball at some point in the preseason games.
There may be a more long-term change coming in the types of people the NFL. employs as umpires. Johnson said that umpires are going to have to be more athletic — slimmer and faster — because they will have to cover more ground than they used to.
The league has also instructed quarterbacks to look at the officials near the sidelines to get the signal that it is OK to snap the ball rather than having to turn around to take a signal from the referee, which was originally suggested.
It was determined that looking to the sidelines was less disruptive for a quarterback who is already looking side to side while checking on his receivers and reading the defense, and that the deepest officials downfield were simply too far to deliver the signal.
Colts-Bengals tickets available — Cincinnati has returned over 400 tickets for Thursday’s game.
Tickets are available while they last at the Lucas Oil Stadium ticket office, Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, charge-by-phone at (800) 745-3000 or at www.ticketmaster.com.
Welcome back — Former Indiana State assistant football coach Kyle Caskey is in his first year as an offensive assistant on the Bengals’ coaching staff.
Caskey, who worked with the offensive line and tight ends with the Sycamores, spent last season as an assistant at the University of Mississippi.
