Colts embracing grind as training camp nears end
Aug. 24—WESTFIELD — These are the dog days of summer.
The Indianapolis Colts have just two practices left during training camp at Grand Park, and the stands are no longer filled to capacity with fans.
The regular season is in sight, but there's still plenty of work to be done ahead of Saturday's preseason finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Lucas Oil Stadium.
"At this point, it definitely is a little bit of a grind," defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said after Tuesday's 90-minute practice. "I'm sure guys are excited to get back to a normal schedule ... breaking camp this week. That's the point of camp — getting into those tough spots and overcoming the little things going on. It's been a good camp so far, and it's been pretty fun."
Just six of the NFL's 32 teams still go away from their year-round facility for training camp practices. The Colts value the team-bonding aspects of practicing away from home, and they believe Grand Park offers a perfect venue to make that happen.
Camp could have broken following last week's joint practices with the Detroit Lions, and the team could have returned to the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center and closed practices this week.
Instead, just as it did a year ago, Indianapolis is spending an extra few days in Westfield.
"The point is we love it up here," Colts head coach Frank Reich said. "It's training camp, so we could go back a week earlier, but just administratively — with the number of guys we have and the setup we have — it just makes sense to stay up here.
"The players like it up here. The coaches like it up here. It saves our practice fields back home for another week. But that really matters because they get eaten up pretty quick. So it saves the fields for another week. It's a good situation up here."
Practices are structured slightly differently this week.
There is some rudimentary game planning prior to the third preseason game. It's nowhere near as extensive as the regular season, but it is a small step up from the first two weeks of the preseason.
"We're not doing cards or anything like that," Reich said. "I did go ones versus twos for a couple periods (Tuesday), but we're still running our plays. ... We had a few plays in there that the coordinators asked the other coordinator to do something just to get a look at something, but that was the only small tweak."
The starters are expected to play two quarters Saturday, with the second-team playing in the third quarter before the reserves finish things up.
That should provide the most realistic look yet at this year's roster, but Reich already believes he has a good feel for where this team is in its progression.
"I feel good where we're at," he said. "I think you can get a feel — the focus, the level of focus, the level of effort, really the execution in practice. The execution in practice (Tuesday) was really good, I felt, in all three phases. That gives you a sense of confidence that we are close.
"We've got work to do this week and next week before we go into the game-week mode."
The Colts will practice Wednesday and Thursday at Grand Park before breaking camp and preparing for the preseason finale.
When they return home to Indianapolis next week, they'll begin preparation for the Sept. 11 regular season opener at the Houston Texans.
A fast start is a must this season with five of the first seven games scheduled against AFC South opponents.
But, first, there's some business to take care of in the dog days of summer.
"Definitely in the sense like a final exam, putting everything together, the starters getting a little more playing time this game and getting out there, seeing the rotation — a mock game in a sense," Buckner said. "It should be fun. I'm excited to get back out there."
