The Indianapolis Colts moved indoors for their second training camp practice of the 2023 preseason Friday as they continue their march toward the new campaign.
Though there is still a long way to go before training camp is over, there are some storylines beginning to take place as the Colts prepare for the start of the season.
We also went through a quick roundup of everything that went down during this practice.
Here are five takeaways from Day 2 of Colts training camp:
1
Injuries and Attendance
- RB Jonathan Taylor (ankle), DE Tyquan Lewis (knee) and TE Will Mallory (foot) remain on the active/PUP list and did not practice.
- S Julian Blackmon (hamstring) and CB Julius Brents (hamstring) did not practice for a second consecutive day.
- DE Samson Ebukam (hamstring) was seen with a sleeve on his leg and did not practice.
2
Anthony Richardson took first-team reps
As expected, rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson was the one taking first team reps during practice after Gardner Minshew was the one to do so during the first practice. Head coach Shane Steichen said the two would be flip-flopping the role throughout camp.
Though the pads haven’t come on yet, Richardson has already shown plenty of improvements from the spring practices. He’s clearly being able to stack days throughout camp.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Horseshoe Huddle, Richardson had a solid day throwing the ball in the limited work.
During 11-on-11s, he completed 3-of-4 passes, all of which were within five yards, with passes to Isaiah McKenzie, Evan Hull, and Michael Pittman Jr. During 7-on-7s, Richardson had the play of the day as he rolled to his left, flicked his wrist, and completed a deep touchdown pass to Alec Pierce of about 55 yards much to the delight of the jubilant crowd.
They also mentioned a moment in which Richardson likely should have kept an option rather than handing it off but he quickly realized the mistake he made immediately after.
All in all, it seemed like a very strong day for the rookie in his first practice running with the ones.
3
Running backs had a solid day
Though there is no contact, there were some nice plays from the running backs during team periods. Rookie Evan Hull continues to stack strong days together while Deon Jackson and Jake Funk also had some nice lanes to run through. It should also be noted that undrafted free-agent rookie Zavier Scott has been working with the running backs, and Zack Moss has been working with the first-team in Jonathan Taylor’s absence.
4
Dayo Odeyingbo replaces Samson Ebukam
With Ebukam out due to a hamstring injury, it was the third-year pass rusher in Odeyingbo who saw the first-team reps at defensive end opposite Kwity Paye. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise but it does essentially confirm he’s fifth in the rotation without much of a question mark.
5
Shaquille Leonard steadily increasing work
The Maniac continues to see more work each day despite having missed the entire spring workout program. After seeing a surprising amount of work during the first practice, Leonard saw even more work with the first-team defense on Friday.
Here’s what Kevin Bowen of 1075 The Fan had to say about Leonard’s workload during the second practice:
After an off day on Thursday, Shaquille Leonard slightly increased his impressive workload to start camp. It was Leonard once again taking part in the individual periods, 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 sessions. Leonard’s time with the starters was the first 3 plays of each the three separate team periods. In total, Leonard was on the field for 9 of the 15 starting reps on Friday. That compares to 6 of the 15 reps for Leonard on Wednesday. Even more so than Wednesday, Leonard’s fired up energy was on full display indoors.
Whether the Colts will continue to increase those reps on days with consecutive practices remains to be seen, but it’s pretty encouraging to see Leonard participating so much.
