‘It was a cheap shot’: Colts joint workout with Eagles ends after fight
‘It was a cheap shot’: Colts joint workout with Eagles ends after fight
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PHILADELPHIA - A joint practice between the Colts and Eagles was nearing the two-hour mark as Jalen Hurts dumped off a pass to Kenneth Gainwell. Zaire Franklin sprinted over and cracked the running back to the ground.
And then Jason Kelce came storming like a rhino. Only, Franklin wasn't looking his way.
The Eagles' All-Pro center ran over Franklin, toppling the Colts' leading tackler to the ground and inciting almost all players on both teams to sprint in for a skirmish. More than 150 bodies converged near midfield at the NovaCare Center, and as coaches hurried to try to handle it all, the two head coaches decided they'd seen enough for one day.
"We wanted to go against a great offense all week, just trying to get better," Franklin said. "To be honest, our practice tempo is our practice tempo. That kind of happens when you have joint practices against other organizations. Sometimes their speed ain't your speed. People get offended. That's life."
He wasn't thrilled with how Kelce handled the moment.
"It's funny. Obviously, growing up in Philly, watching him play for a long time, I have a lot of respect for him," Franklin said. "... I thought the OGs would at least look me in the eye before. But it's all good. I'm going to get a chance to look him in the eye on Thursday. We're going to be OK."
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Zaire Franklin was in the middle of a skirmish during Tuesday's joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Kelce cooled down some by the time he spoke after practice.
"It was a cheap shot," Kelce said. "... A certain level of intensity and fisticuffs in practice is OK, but that was not OK. ... Everybody's out here to be accountable. That was unacceptable for me, and I'm trying to be better moving forward."
The fight was the exclamation point that brought this practice to an end, but it wasn't the only flare. At one point, Eagles edge rusher Derek Barnett slapped a ball out of Anthony Richardson's hand late in a play and tried to scoop and score it, only for Bernhard Raimann to get in his face and begin shoving.
This one broke up after a small scrum formed.
"It's football," Richardson said. "Sometimes instincts come in the way. Guys are trying to attack the quarterback and get the ball. It just shows me that I need to be careful in the pocket and know what I'm doing."
Two days before the two teams will meet for a preseason finale at Lincoln Financial Field, it seems no love was lost between the players involved.
"We whooped their (expletive)," Gainwell told members of Philadelphia media.
In a football sense, it was hard to disagree. Through two 11-on-11 sessions featuring the Colts offense against the Eagles defense and vice-versa, and then the full-field, game-like session at the end, one squad looked like the defending NFC champions and the other looked like one of the younger rosters in the NFL dealing with some key absences.
Colts offensive line still has issues
The key matchup, beyond anything involving Richardson, was going to focus on the Colts offensive line and its ability to protect its rookie quarterback. Indianapolis was able to get center Ryan Kelly back from the foot injury that held him out last week, though it opted to ease him in by rotating his center position with Danny Pinter.
Will Fries was out again with a calf injury, which meant Carter O'Donnell got the start at right guard.
The Colts were manhandled in the middle during 11-on-11 drills. First-round Eagles defensive tackles Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter were able to win with power and speed, respectively, to live in the backfield nearly every time Richardson dropped back to pass. He attempted just eight passes because he had to turn a few of them into instant scrambles with the pocket caving in.
The late strip-sack by Barnett that got Raimann fired up was a moment where the Colts line lost across the board. But for the most part, it was the center of the line that had issues. In the run game, the Colts tried to get Richardson and his backs to the perimeter and worked zone-read concepts where Richardson handed off to the outside on a number of snaps.
As a result, the Colts' first-team offense never found the end zone. The only touchdowns they scored came with the second team, when Gardner Minshew hit a wide-open Drew Ogletree on a play-action route off of a heavy run action and then hit Juwann Winfree for a score.
The one area improvement for the offensive line compared to last week came in a lower number of penalties.
Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson was under constant pressure in the joint practice against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Challenging day for Richardson
Because of the constant pressure on passing plays and the tendency to hand it off more as a result, Richardson saw another light day, not unlike his last against the Bears. He was 4 of 8 passing in 11-on-11 settings, with just two completions beyond five yards. Those came on a dig route to Michael Pittman Jr. and on a slant to Josh Downs.
He showed a little inaccuracy trying to hit Kylen Granson on a pair of crossing routes outside the numbers, and he had a miscommunication with Pittman where his top receiver ran a slant and Richardson was expecting him to keep taking his man vertical. He avoided throwing the ball in harm's way, but he appeared rushed behind the struggling line.
"It lets me know the things I have to correct myself," Richardson said. "... That's a great team over there. They have great players over there. It lets me know how our levels match up against theirs and what we need to do to get to the Super Bowl."
Thursday's game will offer some more reps for him against this style of defense, as Steichen announced that Richardson will start the game. The advantage is that he might not see the same ferocious front that compiled 70 sacks last season, 15 more than any other team. It seems unlikely that the Eagles will play the same number of starters as the Colts, given that they are a much more veteran team.
MORE:What Colts QB Anthony Richardson had to say about not playing vs. Bears, starting Thursday
The bad news is that there won't be referees whistling plays dead, which happened constantly Tuesday with Richardson. If the Colts held him out against the Bears out of precaution, it'll be worth monitoring how cautious they are in reps and the types of assignments they give him on Thursday.
But he's ready for it.
"... I'm just trying to grind and eat away at greatness each day."
One positive for the Colts passing game came in some of the individual matchups. Pittman beat five-time Pro Bowler Darius Slay for a contested catch over the middle. Downs continued to gain steady separation in the slot. And Alec Pierce showed off his vertical abilities in a 1-on-1 rep in which he toasted Pro Bowl cornerback James Bradberry on a go route:
Colts defense has a time with Eagles receivers
These types of settings are an advantage for experienced passing games because the weather is pristine and by this late in training camp, some of the basic offense is just second-nature. That's how it looked when Jalen Hurts dropped back to throw to DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown.
Brown caught a pass over the middle and got in Franklin's face at one point.
But the real show was the one Smith put on along the sidelines against Darrell Baker Jr. It was a route running and ball control clinic by a former first-round pick who topped 1,100 yards last season, as he beat Baker deep on one play, jumped early and still adjusted his hands to catch the ball over Baker’s head for a gain of more than 40 yards.
A couple plays later, Baker tried to adjust by playing with more of a cushion and Smith beat him for a back-shoulder touchdown pass.
Baker and Dallis Flowers were the starting outside cornerbacks again, and it's trending toward that being the starting tandem to open the season. Second-round rookie JuJu Brents hasn't gotten as many reps, due to hamstring and wrist injuries and just having not made many impact plays yet.
Whoever starts is going to be at an experience deficit against passing games like the Eagles, as Baker, Flowers, Brents and fifth-round rookie Darius Rush combine for 174 career defensive snaps, which all belong to Flowers.
The Colts will need to insulate them as best as possible in pass defense, which makes returning Shaquille Leonard key. He missed the trip to Philadelphia while still in the league's concussion protocol. The Colts did compensate by starting Julian Blackmon at strong safety over second-year Nick Cross.
The good news for the Colts defense in this one was that it got DeForest Buckner back from a lingering foot injury. He lined up next to Grover Stewart on the inside and helped shut down interior run plays, even though the two were facing the No. 1 rushing offense from a season ago.
"I told Buck, 'I've got (No.) 99 on our side, so I'm going to say what I want," Franklin said with a laugh. "... Having Buck out there and knowing he's going to ruin every third play and just decide that he's going to end the play because he felt like it, it's always good to have DeForest back out there. He means so much to our team. He's just such an impact player."
Indianapolis Colts All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor returned to the sidelines for the team's joint practice against the Philadelphia Eagles but has not been medically cleared to participate.
Jonathan Taylor returns to the sidelines
The Colts were not able to get their All-Pro running back back on the practice field, but they do have him around the team.
Jonathan Taylor was present in a black hoodie at Tuesday's practice, one day after ESPN reported that the Colts have granted him permission to seek a trade, which he requested formally just more than three weeks ago.
"I'm aware of the reports with J.T.," Steichen said. "... Those are the reports right now and we're working through those things."
MORE: Colts grant Jonathan Taylor permission to seek trade according to report
Pressed further on the issue, Steichen said he will leave all questions about Taylor's status for general manager Chris Ballard to answer.
Taylor has not been medically cleared to practice yet. He is still on the Physically Unable to Perform List due to the ankle injury he suffered last season, though he has also been expecting a new contract or a trade for weeks now.
Indianapolis Colts center Ryan Kelly is back after missing last week with a foot injury.
Injury report
The Colts were able to return some key players for this practice. Buckner and Kelly both came back from foot injuries, adding two Pro Bowlers to the starting groups.
Tight ends Mo Alie-Cox and Ogletree returned from ankle and shoulder injuries, respectively. Both worked with the second team.
Leonard missed practice with the brain injury.
Rush also missed practice with the hip he injured in Saturday's preseason game. Between that and a lingering hamstring injury, the South Carolina rookie has lost some valuable time as he continues to learn a newer position.
Isaiah McKenzie had to be helped off the field after appearing to injure his right leg, but he returned a few minutes later and practiced in full from that point onward. It was an important return after the Colts lost backup receiver Ashton Dulin to a season-ending ACL tear.
Jelani Woods missed another practice with a hamstring injury.
Quick hits
Granson and Pharaoh Brown took the first-team tight end reps with Woods out and Ogletree and Alie-Cox easing back in. Brown came down with one of the most impressive catches in traffic on a rushed pass from Minshew. ... Winfree had the best catch by any Colts player on an acrobatic back-shoulder ball in the full-field settings.
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08-22-2023, 10:23 PM
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