Here are three takeaways from the Indianapolis Colts’ sixth training camp practice on Tuesday.
The Indianapolis Colts have wrapped up their sixth training camp practice, the second of which was in pads.
With help from the media members who were in attendance, here are three key takeaways from what took place on Tuesday.
Quarterback competition is heating up
For the second day in a row, both Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones put together strong showings.
According to the Indy Star’s Joel Erickson in his training camp takeaways article, Richardson was 9-for-14 in the 11-on-11 periods and 4-for-5 in the 7-on-7 periods.
Jones, meanwhile, was 8-of-11 in the 11-on-11 drills and 4-for-4 in the 7-on-7 periods.
Nate Atkins of the Indy Star posted that Richardson showcased “nice placement” on shorter throws outside the numbers. Richardson also “lofted a smark under-pressure deep ball” to Anthony Gould, who he threw open.
“I just feel like I’m working,” Richardson said via Locked on Colts. “Trying to be better than what I was yesterday and the day before. I’m just trying to do my job and bring my best foot forward for the team and do that every single play.”
Jones “stacked another high quality day,” wrote Jake Arthur of Horseshoe Huddle. But something to note from Arthur is that Jones has “outstanding” timing during the 7-on-7 periods but “is often late” in the 11-on-11. This will be something to watch moving forward as Shane Steichen searches for the most consistent player.
The kicking competition is building momentum as well
It was a shaky start to the Colts‘ kicker competition last Friday between Spencer Shrader and Maddux Trujillo. Shrader would go 4-for-6 that day, missing both of his kicks from 50-plus yards, while Trujillo was just 3-for-6.
However, in today’s practice, both kickers would go 6-for-6 on Tuesday.
Around the NFL, we’ve seen young kickers struggle as they adjust from college to the NFL, so GM Chris Ballard did take a risk relying solely on two relatively inexperienced kickers to compete and lead this position.
“There’s plenty of times where we’re going to kick individually or we’re in pre-practice that will be scripted and evaluated,” special teams coordinator Brian Mason said. “But the biggest time they’re going to be evaluated is when we go into a team setting, when we go into joint practices, when we go in preseason that is truly an open competition, so we’re trying to get those guys equal reps as much as we possibly can early on to see who can take hold of that competition.
“There’s really no timetable on that, and that’s something we’ll work on as we go throughout training camp to see who takes the lead.”
Injuries at cornerback
JuJu Brents did not practice on Tuesday as he works through a hamstring injury. Jaylon Jones would drop out of practice with what was later reported as a hamstring injury.
Those two players are competing with Justin Walley for the starting cornerback spot opposite of Charvarius Ward. We do not know when either player will return at this time, but until then Walley will be getting those valuable CB2 reps.
“Just consistency of work, and that’s going to have to show throughout training camp, throughout the preseason games, to determine who’s going to get that job,” Lou Anarumo said of the cornerback position.