Angus
Active Member
- Messages
- 5,097
- Reaction score
- 20
August 5, 2007
Manning feels confident after week of camp
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- With a trip to Dallas looming, Peyton Manning insisted the Indianapolis Colts are headed in the right direction.
"It's been a good week,'' the veteran quarterback said after the team capped its first week of training camp at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with its annual Blue and White intrasquad scrimmage, won by the defense 31-20. "We're off to a good start.''
The players have today off, then return to the practice fields Monday morning. Thursday, they open their four-game preseason schedule on the road against the Cowboys.
Manning is confident the Colts have made the necessary strides during their eight full-squad practices. Veterans are regaining the sharpness that was critical to last year's Super Bowl victory and rookies are making the required transition from college to the pros.
"The main thing you want to see now is as few mental mistakes as possible,'' said Manning, who completed 7-of-11 passes for 99 yards before taking a seat on the sideline. "Heck, we're going Thursday to Dallas on national TV. You want to have guys in the right places and doing the right things.''
Manning's progress report, even after only one week, hinges on how comfortable he feels running the offense. It's a plus, he noted, when he doesn't have to repeat instructions at the line of scrimmage or tell young players what to do.
"The whole week we just kind of called the plays and operated in normal fashion,'' Manning said. "Some of the young guys that were in there -- (Anthony) Gonzalez and (Roy Hall) -- are not wide-eyed in there.
"You can tell they were in their playbook.''
Coach Tony Dungy also was pleased with the progress made. The first week, he said was "good in a lot of ways. I really like our attitude and the way we're going about things."
"I think we're going to be a fast team. We're going to be an explosive team on offense.''
Saturday's intrasquad work -- offense versus defense -- ran the gamut in terms of execution. Unofficially, Manning and understudies Jim Sorgi and Josh Betts combined to complete 19-of-31 passes for 255 yards and one touchdown. But lost fumbles in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter by Betts and John Navarre enabled the defense to rally for the "victory.''
The late hiccups reinforced Dungy's message to the team that it must play from start to finish.
"(The offense) was up 12 points with three minutes to go,'' he said. "All they've got to do is hang onto the ball. . . . you have to keep playing. You can't just milk the clock at the end. You've got to keep making first downs.''
Off-the-field matters
Linebacker Rob Morris, defensive tackle Anthony McFarland and defensive end Robert Mathis were among a handful of players not at Saturday's intrasquad game. Dungy said they were getting "precautionary'' magnetic resonance imaging tests in Indianapolis. Dungy wasn't certain of the nature of the injuries.
In other personnel matters, the team has waived wide receiver Michael DePriest, placed tight end Mike Seidman on the injured reserve list with a knee injury and signed a pair of rookie free agents -- defensive end Noland Burchette and wide receiver Aaron Brown.
Burchette is a 6-2, 259-pounder who played at Virginia Tech and Brown is a 6-3, 212-pounder out of New Hampshire.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070805/SPORTS03/708050425/1100
Manning feels confident after week of camp
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- With a trip to Dallas looming, Peyton Manning insisted the Indianapolis Colts are headed in the right direction.
"It's been a good week,'' the veteran quarterback said after the team capped its first week of training camp at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology with its annual Blue and White intrasquad scrimmage, won by the defense 31-20. "We're off to a good start.''
The players have today off, then return to the practice fields Monday morning. Thursday, they open their four-game preseason schedule on the road against the Cowboys.
Manning is confident the Colts have made the necessary strides during their eight full-squad practices. Veterans are regaining the sharpness that was critical to last year's Super Bowl victory and rookies are making the required transition from college to the pros.
"The main thing you want to see now is as few mental mistakes as possible,'' said Manning, who completed 7-of-11 passes for 99 yards before taking a seat on the sideline. "Heck, we're going Thursday to Dallas on national TV. You want to have guys in the right places and doing the right things.''
Manning's progress report, even after only one week, hinges on how comfortable he feels running the offense. It's a plus, he noted, when he doesn't have to repeat instructions at the line of scrimmage or tell young players what to do.
"The whole week we just kind of called the plays and operated in normal fashion,'' Manning said. "Some of the young guys that were in there -- (Anthony) Gonzalez and (Roy Hall) -- are not wide-eyed in there.
"You can tell they were in their playbook.''
Coach Tony Dungy also was pleased with the progress made. The first week, he said was "good in a lot of ways. I really like our attitude and the way we're going about things."
"I think we're going to be a fast team. We're going to be an explosive team on offense.''
Saturday's intrasquad work -- offense versus defense -- ran the gamut in terms of execution. Unofficially, Manning and understudies Jim Sorgi and Josh Betts combined to complete 19-of-31 passes for 255 yards and one touchdown. But lost fumbles in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter by Betts and John Navarre enabled the defense to rally for the "victory.''
The late hiccups reinforced Dungy's message to the team that it must play from start to finish.
"(The offense) was up 12 points with three minutes to go,'' he said. "All they've got to do is hang onto the ball. . . . you have to keep playing. You can't just milk the clock at the end. You've got to keep making first downs.''
Off-the-field matters
Linebacker Rob Morris, defensive tackle Anthony McFarland and defensive end Robert Mathis were among a handful of players not at Saturday's intrasquad game. Dungy said they were getting "precautionary'' magnetic resonance imaging tests in Indianapolis. Dungy wasn't certain of the nature of the injuries.
In other personnel matters, the team has waived wide receiver Michael DePriest, placed tight end Mike Seidman on the injured reserve list with a knee injury and signed a pair of rookie free agents -- defensive end Noland Burchette and wide receiver Aaron Brown.
Burchette is a 6-2, 259-pounder who played at Virginia Tech and Brown is a 6-3, 212-pounder out of New Hampshire.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070805/SPORTS03/708050425/1100
