Dan Campbell said there were “intriguing” options at the deadline but “not enough to be noteworthy”.
Dan Campbell said there were “intriguing” options at the deadline but “not enough to be noteworthy”.
Indianapolis – Indianapolis Colts receiver Alec Pierce walked into the locker room Wednesday, took a peek a couple of lockers away and found an old friend, two-time All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner (Detroit King).
It was a reunion of sorts for the duo who helped lead the Cincinnati Bearcats to the College Football Playoff in the 2021 season and teamed up last summer to win a golf tournament.
Now, after a stunning trade deadline deal, Pierce and Gardner again are teammates chasing the same goal – a championship.
“Just kind of out of nowhere, right?” Pierce said, referring to the surprise blockbuster deal. “I had no idea, but super excited to be teammates again. He’s a special player, a super talented player, somebody I had an opportunity to go against a ton (in college), so I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen what he can do, and excited to be teammates.”
It wasn’t just Pierce who warmly appreciated the move to get Gardner.
Coach Shane Steichen raved about Gardner’s presence in strengthening Indy’s most glaring weakness, pass defense, heading into the final eight regular-season games and perhaps the playoffs.
And throughout the locker room, there was a sense that the Colts (7-2) were going all-in on not just ending their four-year playoff drought but also chasing a title.
The bigger question might be when Gardner will actually appear on the field?
He was still in the concussion protocol Wednesday, making him unavailable to speak with reporters, though Gardner did practice. He’s also still studying the nuances of defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s scheme, a cram session likely to continue even after the Colts fly Thursday to Berlin, Germany.
Still, Steichen remains hopeful Gardner may play Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons (3-5).
“To get a bona fide No. 1 corner in this league, like I said, it elevates everybody around him,” Steichen said. “He’s got all the elite traits you look for. He’s sticky in pass coverage, has pass breakups, the interceptions. He’s feisty, he’s aggressive. Just to add that to the fold in the back end with the guys we’ve already got back there, it just elevates everybody.”
The Colts need him, too, even if this hasn’t been his best season. He has only 20 tackles and six passes defensed with no interceptions.
Still, he could provide a boost for a pass defense that ranks 26th in the league at 244.8 yards per game allowed, largely because of missing players.
Indy lost two promising rookies – cornerback Justin Walley and safety Hunter Wohler – with season-ending injuries. Cornerback Jaylon Jones went on injured reserve after the season-opening win over Miami and was activated in time to return last Sunday at Pittsburgh.
Indy tried to plug one hole by bringing in two-time NFL interceptions champ Xavien Howard, who did not play in 2024. He retired after just four games.
Starting cornerback Charvarius Ward, a major free agent acquisition and a 2023 Pro Bowler, landed on injured reserve with a concussion following a bizarre pregame collision with tight end Drew Ogletree. He could be activated following Indy’s bye week and in time for its Nov. 23 visit to Kansas City.
So Gardner’s presence certainly would be a welcome addition.
“My family was like ‘Oh my gosh, you’re getting Sauce,” slot cornerback Kenny Moore II said, explaining he learned of the trade in a text message just before he taught a class at a local high school. “The school was pretty hyped to hear about Sauce, so it’s cool to have that effect and the energy for an individual as well as the collective unit.”
When Ward does return, the Colts secondary could be one of the league’s best with three Pro Bowl cornerbacks – Gardner, Ward and Moore – starting alongside two of the NFL’s best tackling safeties, Cam Bynum and Nick Cross.
On a team that leads the league in points scored, that ranks among the league’s best scoring and run defenses, that five-man combination could lead to a stronger pass rush and even allow Anarumo to dial up more blitzes.
“I think that was a good pickup that we got,” defensive tackle Grover Stewart said. “It will help us get to the quarterback more and will help us out in the back end, too.”
And nobody knows that better than Pierce.
“I think back to college, and we were both just super competitive, like we would do walkthroughs and that would turn quickly into like going about 90% because he’s trying to press you and you’re trying to get off the press,” Pierce said.
“I know he’s up to the challenge. I think for him, it will be nice be on a team with a winning record. I think this is just like when we were back in college, playing important games where we get a chance to do big things.”
Bears upgrade defensive line
Lake Forest, Ill. – Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles believes he did the best he could to improve the team’s pass rush without throwing away its future.
Chicago acquired defensive lineman Joe Tryon-Shoyinka in a trade with Cleveland at the deadline on Tuesday. Tryon-Shoyinka, a former first-round pick by Tampa Bay, should help make up for the loss of defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo to a season-ending Achilles tendon injury.
“All I can say is we made calls across the league and I check up on all of the guys you would imagine just to see the availability,” Poles said Wednesday.
Bears coach Ben Johnson said the team was “kind of low in numbers there in that D-line room.”
“So adding Joe into the equation should hopefully give us a little boost here for the second half,” he said.
The Bears (5-3) also upgraded their defensive line when Austin Booker had an impressive season debut in Sunday’s 47-42 victory at Cincinnati. Booker, who missed the first seven games because of a knee injury, had a strip sack against Joe Flacco when he bull-rushed his blocker.
“We turned pretty much every stone to find those answers and then, yeah, the timing worked out where we got the extra week to see (Booker) get going again,” Poles said, “and I think it reminded us back to the momentum he had going in the preseason. You saw those flashes and we expect those to continue to come.”
The injury-riddled Bears defense struggled against the Bengals, but they were picked up by Caleb Williams and the rest of the team’s offense.
Johnson, who was hired in January, said he thinks Williams is getting better every week in the quarterback’s second NFL season.
“There’s ups and there’s downs,” Johnson said. “And some weeks are better than others, which we knew. But he’s in a lot better place now with his process than he was to start the season.
“The week isn’t necessarily smooth sailing always but I think that’s to be expected with Year 1 in a new system.”
Williams, who turns 24 on Nov. 18, has been working on his accuracy. He is completing 61.5% of his throws, a full percentage point below his rookie year, and the placement of his passes is often off on completions.
“It’s runners’ ball, give your guys the best shot because we’ve got some guys on this team that can take a 5-yard route, a 15-yard route or something like a go-ball, for a touchdown and break tackles, whatever they have to do to create explosive plays for us, big plays for us, keep us ahead of the sticks,” Williams said.
Williams did make a clutch throw to Colston Loveland on Sunday that the rookie tight end turned into a 58-yard play for the game-winning touchdown.
“I think a lot of the misses per se that I’ve had through the early part of the season would be just building this trust and rapport with these guys,” Williams said. “And it’s us being on the same page, exactly where you’re going to sit, and the body language and all these different things. So that’s a part of playing QB back there and building this trust and rapport with these guys.”
Luvu’s suspension reduced to fine
Ashburn, Va. – With quarterback Jayden Daniels out long term and the defense also ravaged by injuries, the Washington Commanders got one piece of good news when linebacker Frankie Luvu’s suspension for repeated hip-drop tackles was reduced to a $100,000 fine.
“Just a relief, you know what I mean? A weight off my shoulders,” Luvu said Wednesday, a day after winning an appeal of his one-game ban for his third violation of the hip-drop tackle rule. “I know the rule has changed drastically over the years, but just … I’m never trying to step out on the field and trying to hurt somebody. That’s never my intentions.”
Officials held their flags when Luvu brought down Jaxon Smith-Njigba during the first quarter of Washington’s 38-14 loss to Seattle on Sunday night.
But the NFL later ruled the play constituted another violation by the eight-year pro after he was previously fined for hip-drop tackles in Week 4 and Week 8. The reduction of the sanction makes him available to play in the Commanders’ game against Detroit on Sunday.
Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner said the outcome suggests understanding of the rule is evolving.
“When you watch the games, he’s not being penalized for it,” Wagner said. “So a lot of the time as a player, if you’re in the league and you do something and nothing’s penalized, then you walk away from the game thinking everything’s fine. Then you get the letter in the mail and you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s not fine.’ It lets you know that everybody is still trying to figure out what this thing is.”
Banning the hip-drop tackle was among the latest in a series of rule changes intended to make the game safer.
With the hip-drop tackle, Wagner said it’s not something you can focus on avoiding during the game.
“You want to work on it at practice to try to make it muscle memory, and you hope that your muscle memory takes over. But that takes time,” Wagner said. “Everybody knows Frankie. Everybody knows the kind of person he is. He loves this game, this game means a lot to him. And so if they give him something to fix, he will get it done.”
Meanwhile, Marcus Mariota is set to start for the Commanders (3-6) against the Lions (5-3) after Daniels suffered a dislocated left elbow in the fourth quarter against the Seahawks.
But the Commanders haven’t placed Daniels on injured reserve, and head coach Dan Quinn said the team is still deciding the path forward.
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