Saturday’s practice revealed some red zone deficiencies that need to be ironed out.
Westfield, IN — Saturday’s evening practice was a scorcher, but it was eventful for all parties involved. This practice ramped up its aggressiveness, both in exertion and duration, a concerted effort to get the team ready for Monday — when the pads officially come on.
From every special teams period and the first time we’ve seen passcatcher/defender 1-on-1s to a red zone exclusive day of team periods, this hour-and-a-half-long practice was chock-full of drills and simulations to watch.
As the article’s title suggests, this full send into the red zone proved to be a tall ask for both Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones. While the two quarterbacks certainly had their fair share of touchdown connections, it was a wildly inefficient day in the red area.
Up until this point, we had yet to see any red zone calls in team periods. On Saturday, however, it was a different story entirely. The Colts exclusively operated in the red zone for all of its team periods on the day. This, of course, shrinks the field and typically helps differentiate between quarterbacks amidst a competition, but that was not the case. Both Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones struggled in their first red zone sessions, putting up inconsistent showings that represent two sides of the same coin.
Both quarterbacks threw an interception on the day, but neither’s showing was marred by them. Daniel Jones’ INT came via an ill-positioned 5-yard throw that Samuel Womack jumped, whereas Richardson’s turnover was a tip drill that started with an Anthony Gould-JuJu Brents collision at the line of scrimmage and finished by Rodney Thomas II in the back of the endzone.
Overall, it was very similar showing ‘stats-wise,’ though it could be argued that Jones had worse misses than Richardson did. It wasn’t as much of a purely inaccurate throwing performance as it was one that required more polished timing that chemistry would theoretically iron out. Each had an overthrown fade route in the corner of the end zone, but then again, that is preferred over an underthrow that allows the defender to make a play on.
A big part of these quarterbacks’ poor performances in the red zone can be attributed to more than just their share of the blame. It will always start and end with the quarterback, but especially when you’re talking about the passing game in the red zone, it’s important to note if the intended passcatchers are holding up their end of the bargain. Simply put, as a group, they haven’t yet.
Michael Pittman Jr. is still the same guy he’s been since he was drafted, and maybe he’s still getting back into the swing of things after playing through a slight fracture in his back last season, but thus far, he’s struggled to establish any chemistry with either of the quarterbacks.
A demon in the slot and the quarterback’s security blanket underneath, Josh Downs has yet to be the consistent layup-maker that we’ve seen in recent years. He’s still doing what he does best — getting open and finding space — but he has uncharacteristically begun dropping passes. Speaking of which, second-year wideout Adonai Mitchell has been plagued with post-release mishaps all training camp. There’ve only been four unpadded practices thus far, but Mitchell has almost averaged at least two drops per day in team periods.
The saviors thus far among all Colts passcatchers have been wide receiver Alec Pierce and rookie tight end Tyler Warren. While Warren’s reliability has mainly been on full display when Anthony Richardson is throwing to him, Pierce has been the go-to guy for both Richardson and Jones. Pierce’s big-play ability is still apparent, but he’s seemingly unlocked the necessary short-area quickness to thrive in the short/intermediate game, which is grounds for a dangerous recipe when concocting an NFL wideout.
Lastly, it’s abundantly clear that Indy’s defense far outmatches its offense, at least right now, that is. The Colts’ secondary has been legitimized with new additions Charvarius Ward and Camryn Bynum, its defensive line is deep and presents two candidates (Laiatu Latu, Samson Ebukam) to total double-digit sacks in the pass rush game, and its Zaire Franklin-less linebacker group has impressed thus far.
As previously mentioned, the pads come on starting on Monday. Therefore, this quarterback competition thus far could very well be singing a different tune as early as this week. Perhaps an established chemistry with their passcatchers is needed for the quarterbacks to take the next step, but so far, there remains a lot of work to be done.
