Colts defense wreaks havoc in red zone sessions, while offense delivers in 2-minute drills

The Indianapolis Colts defense has wreaked havoc for the offense through the first two weeks of training camp, especially during the red zone focused sessions.

Third-year quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. was off-target Saturday morning in particular, completing just 3-of-10 pass attempts in the high-leverage red zone scenario. After two misfires, Richardson tried to scramble to buy more time, but lofted an underthrown pass into the end zone, which resulted in an interception for cornerback Kenny Moore II.

Daniel Jones threw two unimpressive interceptions Saturday as he was picked off by linebacker Joe Bachie on his first throw of the 7-on-7 session. The Colts secondary continues to have a field day when Jones holds the ball and tries to force late passes into heavy traffic, best evidenced when his late throw resulted in an interception for safety Nick Cross at the goal line.

One thing for certain about Jones is the seventh-year veteran will consistently take the easy checkdowns during team sessions. Jones completed 6-of-8 passes in the first 11-on-11 team session Sunday, including a pair of TDs to tight end Tyler Warren and receiver Ashton Dulin during the initial red zone period. In 7-on-7 drills with the starters, Jones finished his reps on a solid note after he sent receiver Josh Downs on a jet motion across the formation and found him on a slant for a first down.

The Colts offense managed to collect three field goals across four separate two-minute drills this weekend. Despite nearly getting picked off by safety Camryn Bynum, Richardson commanded an excellent drive with the starters in Sunday’s final team session. Richardson found Downs on consecutive passes, then hit Dulin for a first down and led Tyler Goodson on a swing pass out of the backfield to set up a 54-yard field goal for kicker Spencer Shrader. In Sunday’s final two-minute period, Jones completed a deep crosser to Anthony Gould for a massive gain that set up rookie kicker Maddux Trujillo to deliver a 33-yard field goal to end practice.

All-Pro linebacker Zaire Franklin returned to the practice field Saturday for the first time this summer, commanding the first-team defense to an impressive effort in the red zone. Second-year linebacker Jaylon Carlies is projected to emerge as a starter alongside Franklin and described how more will be expected from him after elevating to a bigger role.

“It was definitely my rookie year, that was definitely a learning experience for me,” Carlies said. “On and off the field, just learning the ins and outs of being in the NFL, Having great teammates definitely helped me get through my rookie year as well. With different things from treating my body, watching film, or different things like that. It definitely helped me, so just going into Year 2, just building on those things, coming in to help this team anyway I can.”

The Colts defensive line punished the offensive line in Sunday’s 11-on-11 team sessions and tasked the officials to blow their whistles to prevent them from collecting several sacks. Colts second-year edge rusher Laiatu Latu got the best of right tackle Braden Smith and forced both quarterbacks to scramble outside the pocket on multiple occasions, including a sack on the first play of the final team period. There was a play which both Kwity Paye and Samson Ebukam could have crumbled Jones off the edge during the same play if it were allowed. Defensive tackle Neville Gallimore, who signed with the Colts during free agency, could have corralled both quarterbacks on separate plays.

Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo has eased the minds of his players to build the basic fundamentals of relaying simple play calls from his voice to the field. Through the first two weeks of camp, Anarumo has been pleased with the dominance from his unit.

“That is a base call deal right now when it comes to that,” Anarumo said. “So, we don’t do a whole lot and we are just getting used to the mechanics of signaling from the sideline on the ball. So, we kept it really simple out there, but they executed what I was asking.”

An eerie scene silenced the Grand Park campus in the waning moments of the Colts ninth training camp practice Sunday when the live-tackling period came to a halt and the entire team gathered near the front pylon. Colts running back Salvon Ahmed was on a full sprint toward the end zone when he was dragged down with an illegal hip-drop tackle by undrafted rookie safety Trey Washington. Ahmed, a seventh-year veteran, suffered a severe lower right leg injury after an unnecessary decision was made near the goal line. The NFL banned the hip-drop tackle in March 2024.

Steichen emphasized his goal was to create an edge during his third training camp with the Colts. More often than his first two summers in Indianapolis, the development periods have involved more tackling with third-string players aiming to showcase what they can deliver in order to make the 53-man roster.

“Training camp is where you want to create the edge and the toughness and the identity of your football team,” Steichen said. “It’s really just an unfortunate situation.”

Thomas Butler-Guerrero

It became clear Ahmed’s injury was more severe when team doctors and trainers had to place an air cast on his right leg before laying him on a stretcher to exit the field on a cart. All that could be heard for the next minute was one expletive word from the 26-year-old running back and one fan awkwardly shout “that’s why you don’t hip-drop tackle your own teammates at practice” amid the moments of silence.

It should be mentioned Steichen met with his coaches and decided to move forward with the final two-minute drills to close the second week of camp after the awful incident. The Colts travel to Baltimore for a joint-practice with the Ravens on Tuesday, followed by the preseason opener on Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. on NFL Network.