Colts Gab

More than a month has passed by and everyone and their brother were speculating as to Peyton Manning’s whereabouts and whether his knee was worse than originally expected.  According to the Associated Press, the Indianapolis Colts activated the quarterback Tuesday and will initially be limited in practice after being taken off the physically unable to perform list.

Colts head coach Tony Dungy said that Manning would be cautious with Manning during this short week as Indianapolis played the Buffalo Bills on Sunday and host the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday – before giving him a full allotment of snaps starting next week. To recap, Manning was instructed not to report to training camp with his teammates July 24, 10 days after having surgery to remove an infected bursa sac from his left knee. At that time, team officials said that it would take Manning four to six weeks to recover – and the 6-week period came on Monday, the day when the Colts did not practice. But despite that, local media, bloggers and fans alike constantly specualted on Manning’s whereabouts and readiness despite Dungy stating that Manning had arrived at Colts camp on July 29.

Right now, for all intents and purposes, the Colts are down to 2 QB’s – Quinn Gray and Jared Lorenzen. Which makes the return of Manning all that more important. Manning’s normal backup QB, Jim Sorgi, didn’t dress for last Sunday’s game due to a gimpy knee. But at the same time, Manning being activated doesn’t guarantee that he will start in the season opener against Chicago, either; however, if everything goes to according to plan, expect Manning to be behind center during Week 1.

Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers is rounding out to the form that made him one of the more feared DE’s in the National Football League; Peppers had a sack and recovered a fumble and John Kasay kicked a 46 yard field goal in overtime, leading the Panthers to a narrow 23-20 victory over the Indianapolis Colts at Charlotte.

Turnovers killed the Colts as the Panthers recovered 2 miscues deep in Colts’ territory; running back DeAngelo Williams, who was the benefactor as a result, scored twice on the ground as the Panthers built a 14-0 lead. Colts quarterback Jim Sorgi, for the second week in a row, had a sub-par effort; he went 6-of-9 for 65 yards, but was sacked twice and threw an interception, while reserve QB Jared Lorenzen went 12-of-23 for 117 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Quinn Gray went 11-of-19 for 107 yards and 2 interceptions.

The Panthers’ competition for the backup QB job should be interesting as no specific QB stood out; Matt Moore went 7-of-14 for 107 yards, while Lester Ricard went 6-of-12 for 85 yards and Brett Basanez went 7-of-9 for 54 yards but also threw an INT. Jake Delhomme, returning from off-season ligament-replacement surgery, played only a pair of series, attempting only one pass – an incompletion.

The running game of the Colts was ineffective, as they were led by Gray and rookie RB Chad Simpson with 27 yards each; meanwhile, the running game of the Panthers was productive, led by rookie Decori Birmingham with 17 carries for 70 yards while Williams ran for 55 yards on only 9 carries and a pair of TD’s; LaBrandon Toefield added 49 yards on 12 carries. Rookie tight end Jacob Tamme led all Colts receivers with 5 catches for 57 yards while Onrea Jones caught 5 balls for 44 yards; rookie WR Chris Hannon led the Panthers’ receivers with 2 catches for 46 yards while second-year WR Dwayne Jarrett chipped in with 3 receptions for 43 yards.

Cornerback Brannon Condren led the Colts defense with 8 tackles while linebacker Ramon Guzman added 6 tackles and a fumble recovery; CB Keiwan Ratliff intercepted a pass. Rookie LB Dan Connor led the Panthers’ defensive effort with 6 tackles while the aforementioned Peppers recorded a sack and recovered a fumble; safety Quinton Teal, LB Adam Seward and rookie S Joe Fields recorded an INT apiece. The Colts play again on August 16 when they fly to Atlanta to face the Falcons while the Panthers play their second preseason contest when they travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles.

Capping off a tremendous Hall of Fame Weekend, the Colts and Redskins entertained the fans at Fawcett Stadium on Sunday night to a little taste of preseason football, with the Skins outslugging the Colts 30-16.  The story of the back and forth contest was the play of the four Skins QB’s, who are all learning the new system being put in by new head coach Jim Zorn and the fact that the Colts simply seemed to just want to leave Canton with no major injuries.

Jason Campbell, the teams starter this year, was sharp off the bat and on the night, going a perfect 5-for-5 for 61 yards and a TD to Antwaan Randle El from 20 yards out that opened up the scoring just over a minute into the game.  Rookie QB Colt Brennan drew cheers when he came into the game in the second half, and didn’t dissapoint.  He went 9-for-10 for 123 yards with two TD’s, and looked poised for his first action as a pro.

2nd year running back Marcus Mason, from Youngstown State, paced an effective Redskins running game as he ran for 98 yards on 18 carries (5.4 per carry) with a long of 19.  He and Rock Cartwright were the only two ball carriers for the Skins, and they put up a total 156 yards on 31 carries.  As for the Colts, preseason for them is just that – a time to simply get ready for the regular season and not get anyone hurt.  They rested just about all major starters, including players like Peyton Manning, Bob Sanders, Dwight Freeney and Marvin Harrison.  One starter who did give the team a scare was RB Joseph Addai, who left after the second play with a head injury, but seemed all right by games end.

The Colts starters played just one series, and usual backup Jim Sorgi played one series and led the team on a field goal drive, going 7-for-10 for 66 yards.  Former Jags QB Quinn Gray, who was a recent cut by the Texans, saw the most extensive action for the Colts, and went 10-for-19 for 160 yards with a TD to Onrea Jones from 30 yards out that gave the Colts a 10-9 lead with 5:57 left in the first half.

Indy led 13-9 at the half after an Adam Vinatieri field goal from 24 yards out to end the first half.  Rookie kicker Adam Crossett kicked a 28-yard field goal to make it 16-9 Colts with 10:44 left in the 3rd quarter.  That’s when Brennan made his debut, and he quickly made an impact.  He tied the score witha nifty 20-yard TD to wide out Maurice Mann that made it 16 all.  Then with 10:22 left in the 4th he threw a five-yard TD to Mason on the run that put Washington up for good.

Colts QB Jared Lorenzen, formerly of the Giants, took the helm for Indy in the 4th quarter, and threw a pick with 1:50 left that Skins corner Matterral Richardson took back 30 yards to close out the scoring at 30-16.  Indy will head to Carolina to take on the Panthers on Saturday night.