Colts Cover-2 Podcast: Colts’ Jonathan Taylor gives MVP performance
Insiders Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown discuss Jonathan Taylor’s MVP performance on the latest Colts Cover-2 Podcast: https://youtu.be/6SDFtjFIWZY
Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo had a message for the newest member of the team’s defense Monday entering a pivotal week of prep ahead of playing the Chiefs.Anarumo told Gardner: ‘We just need you to be you…We don’t need you to feel like all this pressure is on you.’Gardner was taken aback by the accuracy and timeliness of Anarumo’s message. ‘Were you reading my mind over the bye?’ Gardner wondered.
Less than two weeks into working with each other – with one the team’s bye that the players had off, no less – and Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo already has a sense of what his two-time First Team All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner needs to hear.
Gardner is a self-described perfectionist who arrived in Indianapolis Nov. 4 following a surprise trade deadline deal with Jets and made his debut a couple days later in the franchise’s overtime win against the Falcons in Berlin. He was taken aback Monday morning when he walked into the facility and found himself wondering whether his new defensive coordinator was a mind reader.
The newest Colt had spent his off-week in Miami, reflecting on joining a playoff-bound franchise for the first time in his career, but Gardner sometimes caught himself getting hung up on finding his role in a team that’s already been humming along.
“I can be an overthinker at times, and a lot of times it’s in a great way, but I was like, ‘What more do I need to do?’ Just chasing certain things, feeling like all the pressure’s on me. I don’t really feel pressure that way, but I feel like I need to do X, Y and Z, so many things,” Gardner said Monday. “And it’s crazy. When I walked in today and talked to Lou, that’s what I was thinking about a little bit.
“And he told me, ‘You had a great game (in Berlin). We just need you to be you. Given everything that’s happened, we don’t need you to feel like all this pressure is on you, because as long as you’re at your best and you’re there for your teammates, that’s all that matters.’”
The sentiment was as calming as it was jarring, in a way.
“It meant a lot,” Gardner said. “It was kinda shocking because I was like, ‘Were you reading my mind over the bye?’ We were texting and chopping it up, but we didn’t have any in-depth conversations, so it’s kinda crazy that’s what he said.”
Gardner, who nearly picked off Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. in his Colts debut on a batted ball but also slipped on a two-point conversion completion while guarding star receiver Drake London, said he had one mistake when it came to missing an assignment or messing up a play call. That’s something, with five days of prep including an intercontinental flight and getting acclimated to a new team thrown in the mix, he didn’t think many players in the league at his position could’ve accomplished.
Anarumo recognized that impressive performance under extreme circumstances and said Tuesday he simply didn’t want his newest member of the defense to think he needed to do any more than he already had.
“When you’re a guy like that, and certainly he knows what the trade was for, he’s a prideful guy, and he certainly doesn’t want to disappoint. He’s that kind of person, and I just wanted to let him know that I don’t care who you are. It’s not just about one person,” Anarumo said. “Go out there, and play free. Have your mind clear. Don’t worry bout putting all that added extra pressure on you, because if you do that, then you’re just weighing yourself down.”
Heading into a major ‘prove-it’ type game for the Colts Sunday in Kansas City, Anarumo said adding an asset like Gardner to his unit – and giving him not only a full week to prepare, but an additional bye week to get settled off the field is major – particularly with the prospect of adding fellow All-Pro corner Charvarius Ward into the mix. The Colts signed Ward this offseason to a three-year deal worth up to $60 million as part of general manager Chris Ballard’s quest to bolster the team’s secondary.
Ward has been on IR since Oct. 13, a day after he suffered his second concussion of the season in a freak accident during pre-game warmups ahead of the Colts’ game against the Cardinals when he ran into tight end Drew Ogletree, but 2023 Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion with the 49ers is eligible to have his 21-day practice window opened this week and could very well see the field Sunday.
Anarumo remarked over the offseason about the flexibility of having one of the league’s lock-down corners and the potential of allowing someone like Ward to simply shadow a team’s top receiver wherever they might travel pre-snap. Adding Gardner into that lineup with Jaylon Jones, a former starter at corner whose build could lend himself to helping on tight ends, speedster Mekhi Blackmon and veteran slot corner Kenny Moore II leaves the options almost endless, the defensive coordinator said.
“There’s still value to maybe matching up a guy on a certain player, but the beauty in that is it gives us flexibility to do whatever we think is best for that particular week,” Anarumo said. “(Sauce) is a premium player in our league at his position. Anytime you’ve got a chance to acquire somebody like that, you’re certainly going to be excited.
“What a great show of support, from ownership on down to give us a player like that. He’s been great, and he’ll only get better.”
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.