Luke- lukewarm, but the good thing is it's early in the cycle, so the hot water is yet to be able to, to flush through as, uh, a lot of games left in this season, and, uh, a lot of, lot of time for Daniel Jones and crew to get things going together again.

Yeah.

I, I, I agree with you.

You know, I, I think there's a lot of season left, but, you know, I think just in the, uh, in the, in the, in the immediacy of a loss to Pittsburgh last Sunday, um, I think a lot of the fan base is saying, "Well, wait a minute.

I thought going into the season we were gonna have a lot of urgency and we were gonna find a lot of ways to win, uh, games like last Sunday, um, that we hadn't won in years past." And, um, unfortunately, I think the narrative is, is still m- moving strong.

And, uh, you know, get- like I said last week on your show, I think, I think not being able to win games like last Sunday on the road against an uptick in competition, maybe not the reason, but it's, it's in the top five reasons why this franchise hasn't made the playoffs since 2020.

And, you know, the record kinda bears it out.

I'm just telling you there will be changes made because the Colts want to be a winner.

Yeah

... played a lot.

He's probably played more than most people anticipated him playing when, when he signed in free agency.

Um, and, and that's, that's concerning.

Not, not his playing time's not concerning, but I think, you know, the big picture is concerning for the Colts because they've got a respectable number of sacks.

They got 10 sacks, but they only have one and a half sacks collectively from their edge rush group.

Uh, so their, their defensive tackles are just collectively playing out of their mind.

[laughs]

Let me ask you, does Indianapolis miss Pittman?

Well, you know, I, I don't know.

That's a really good question.

But, I mean, just the level of respect that everybody in the organization top down had for Michael Pittman Jr. is just off the charts.

He was, uh, a guy that always answered the bell.

A couple years ago, he played with a back injury that I think most receivers probably would have shut it down, uh, and, and dealt with.

Early on in the season, too.

Are the Colts gonna trade for Marvin Harrison Jr. before they make the, the flight out to Pittsburgh on, on Saturday or what? I know that, uh, that would be kind of a crazy story and it looks like he's not bearing too well in the Cardinals offense.

Mm-hmm

... of victory through the first 10 games last year was 14 and a half, which y- you know, I mean, that, you just don't see that in the NFL.

And then unfortunately, uh, the, the reality was is they, they lost some of their key players on both sides of the ball at the most inopportune time.

You know, the schedule heated up on 'em down the stretch of that season, and they played the biggest games of the year without Daniel Jones, and DeForest Buckner, and Charvarius Ward, and Sauce Gardner, and some other guys.

And so they lost their last, uh, nine game, or seven games I should say, last year, and five of those games were decided by one score.

So they were right there, but uh, listen, coulda, woulda, shoulda, man.

I mean, there's no more of victories in the NFL.

Hasn't really quite, um, caught hold, but when he's, when he's playing well and when he's healthy and when he's got a rapport with Aaron Rodgers at his best, how would you describe Michael Pittman to Steelers fans?

What was your thoughts on how they started that game?

Well, I thought Washington's pressure package early in that game was very disruptive.

I mean, the first quarter, the Colts only had 20 total yards, and it just seemed like it was going to be, you know, it was trending towards being one of those days, you know, where it was just going to be tough to move the ball.

And the Colts had, I think, the right game plan ideology going into the game, trying to get the ball out fast and take advantage of the passing game, considering Washington was really good against the run.

They've got some really good edge players.

They had a good front seven.

They were only giving up about 82 rushing yards a game through the first three games of the season.

What do we know about him? And, you know, is it kind of determined he's going to be out or is he still questionable?

But, you know, they they got a pretty stingy defense there.

They do.

I mean, overall, the defense is porous.

I mean, they're giving up over 30 points per game and they're terrible against the pass.

But like you said, they're pretty elite so far through three games against the run.

I mean, they're giving up only about 82 rushing yards per game.

They played Seattle last week, the defending champs, and gave up just a hair over 40 rushing yards.

I guess this is the week, too, that maybe it's a good week for Daniel Jones in the wide receiver room to have a breakout game.

I mean, what does that say about your kids? Not just the year-over-year differential, but still overcoming three really close losses and kind of keeping that same mindset.

Yeah, I think it's a fact that they believe that the coaches aren't telling them lies.

We continue to be truthful with them.

We continue to game plan a way to victory.

I've said it before.

Nobody's planning and talking to them about how to lose.

And so it is a constant mental challenge.

Just what about kind of those three pieces offensively? Because it feels like each week you're seeing their names pop up every night out.

And he talks about like, I was any shift that was open at any

stage.

I would like go in and be a DJ.

Like, He would go do it.

I mean, that's another one.

I mean, I tell this story all the time.

Another part time job I had right away as a pretty young professional in miscommunications.

Yeah.

But what what was the biggest takeaway you think from that game Saturday from your perspective as they, you know, get themselves back on the horse this week and get rolling?

Yeah, I think obviously it was a very disappointing way to start the season.

You know, defensively, let's start first with, you know, you had errors in alignment, communication, to the point where this week the Colts are changing their process of the communication, changing their green dot player, if you will.

They're moving that responsibility from Cam Bynum, who's the free safety, to Akeem Davis-Cather, the linebacker.

So they think having a player to do that in the middle of the defense will kind of smooth that operation up a little bit, make things a little bit quicker and more efficient.

But, I mean, you saw in the first play of the game, Zay Flowers had a 50-yard completion because the Colts just weren't lined up right.

They didn't line up in time.

And you can tell he's playing full throttle ahead.

They're going to throw the football.

Yep.

Yeah.

So since 2024, Jonathan Taylor accounts for 73 percent of the Colts rushing attempts.

That is by far and away the highest workload for one player in the NFL in that time.

So a lot of this offseason dating back to the spring during the OTA period, a lot of that was spent on, and this is just me talking, this is just the way I phrased it when talking about this discussion.

The Colts have just been on this quest to find somebody that they can trust to spell Jonathan Taylor to ensure and entrust that he is available for for the stretch runs of games and for the stretch runs of seasons.

But I talked about it when I talked about the Ravens game, Matt, is – To get where they want to get to and to get to the playoffs and to win a playoff game or two, you have to pull off, I think, in this four-game stretch leading up to Washington, I think you probably have to win at least two of them.

How is the offensive line, do you think, for this Colts team this year?

I think it's going to look really good.

You've got four out of five starters from last year coming back.

Jalen Travis is the new guy, if you want to label him that, at right tackle.

I think he's had his ups and downs.

Everybody does.

It's training camp.

It's the opening game against a damn good team and, With your quarterback back, with questions there, with questions about Alec Pierce and all of that, it would be just huge, a huge

But what do you think the Colts are thinking when it comes to that 53-man roster to what they keep and what they may not – or what maybe they'll look for out on the waiver wire if that happens.

Yeah, it's going to be a very busy weekend for the Colts.

Obviously, the game tomorrow and then new this year, they've got to – the NFL bumped up the date in which these cuts have to be made.

Normally, it's been Tuesday of next week.

They bumped it up to Sunday.

So every team's got to go from 90 to 53 guys on their active rosters by 6 o'clock Eastern time Sunday evening.

And so that means over 1100 players league wide, at least initially, are not going to realize their dreams of making an active roster.

When you look at it from A to Z, especially if they're all healthy.

But I guess the key question is, you know, Daniel Jones, uh, you know, what was the Richardson, uh, Riley Leonard, uh, m- make up y- yes- those last couple days that between those two? How did those two perform, and then what do you think we'll see tonight as it pertains to b-

Yeah, I mean, on Tuesday was...

it was pretty similar to camp.

They had their highs and they had their lows.

You know, I think both guys, I think both guys are really excited for tonight, and by the way, the plan for tonight is Richardson's gonna start the game and play the first half, and then Leonard's gonna get the second half.

So hopefully there's an apples to apples comparison there in terms of, you know, numbers of series.

You know, that typically equates to five or six series through the course of a half, and hopefully both guys get a chance to, like, go on a two-minute drill at the end of a half or end of a game, you know, 'cause you wanna see the, the same amount of game reps as far as that situation is concerned.

And as you see big reps in, uh, for these, for these quarterbacks, who, who else or who are some of the other guys that are either still trying to, hey, create some space for themselves, uh, or get additional rep- reps for themselves in a different position?

Is that what you're predicting this year? We're going to see the team that we saw for the first eight games last

year? I think the belief is the Colts can be more like the 8-2 Colts.

You know, leading the AFC South, tops in the conference, going big on that trade for Sauce Gardner at the trade deadline.

I think that's who the Colts can more be in 2026 than the team that obviously dealt with a lot of injuries and went 0-7 down the stretch.

You think he's going to be fine?

I think he's going to be out there week one.

I mean, barring something really unforeseen, I think health-wise, he's going to be pretty close to the guy that he was.

Now, the biggest thing is just him checking off those final couple of boxes to find the explosivity, the side-to-side, you know, in-the-pocket mobility, things that he's going to need on a week-in, week-out basis.

And I guess that, do you think that's going to help in the sense that it calms down the rumblings here and there?

Well, it will obviously for Taylor, but the Colts still have a lot of other guys that are sort of in that worth discussing bucket, you know, guys going into contract years.

You've got Quentin Nelson.

You've got Josh Downs.

You've got DeForest Buckner.

You've got Grover Stewart.

So, I mean, every team has those guys.

But looking over now defensively, I guess, has there been any surprises on that side of the ball in terms of guys standing out, maybe some of the young guys, or kind of where they are at in that aspect of things?

But yeah, so how's that coming?

It, I think it's coming.

They, they said it's still about a week or two away, as you said, starting on PUP, which is really not that surprising.

Because, uh, based on what we heard from Pierce, uh, discussing the injury, uh, back in the off season, he said it was gonna be about a four to six month recovery, and that, again, dates back to March.

So that puts him right back, right around this time, you know, sort of middle of August.

And, uh, you know, we'll, we'll see, we'll see how, how fast he can come back and, uh, re-acclimate to this offense.

And it's just a different role this year, obviously, for Pierce after getting that big contract in free agency and the trade of Michael Pittman Jr.

But, uh, when you think of Daniel Jones being out there, um, w- what was Steichen's, uh, feeling for the, you know, the quarterbacks in general but Daniel Jones coming back, and then of course the Anthony Richards, Riley Leonard battle that may be ensuing here shortly?

What about behind him in that backup role in the battle that might be erupting during camp?

Yeah, I mean, certainly it's fluid.

You know, obviously, I think most people know that Anthony Richardson asked for a trade in the off-season, and, you know, one, to this point, hasn't come to fruition.

Uh, Chris Ballard, the general manager of the Colts, uh, spoke on Tuesday of this week and said that trade is technically still on the o- or still on the table, but, you know, the Colts aren't just gonna trade him away because they still feel they, they can get something out of him because it's true.

I mean, he's just oozing with talent.

Uh, you know, it's tr- it's trying to harnessing, uh, har- I should say harness all of that, you know, ability into finding a quarterback that's a little bit more stable, a little bit, uh, bit more accurate.

But if they can do those things, I mean, shoot, there could be a, a package for Anthony Richardson, whether that's, you know, short yardage or goal line or red zone, you know, just sort of a mixture of his athleticism, his ability to run the football, uh, his ability to throw the football as well.

Take us through that receivers group.

But I guess you could fill us in about Daniel Jones and his progress and everything that goes with that.

Yeah, I mean, he's going to be out there.

I mean, physically, I think he's definitely going to be to the point where he's going to be very active in training camp right away with the goal in mind that he's going to be active and close to full go by the start of the regular season, week one.

I just think the biggest things that he's going to have to do are just check those final finishing touch boxes, if you will.

Find that... that extra layer of explosivity, the trust that he's going to have to have mentally with the injury, you know, the side to side movement inside the pocket.

I mean, basically everything that he did.

to me in the off season workout program was so ahead of schedule on what my expectations were for him, um, going into the springtime.

He's doing football and basketball.

know seven days later and play at pittsburgh that who who made the nfl scheduling people mad

well it's it's you know i think every team has a um i don't know if there's a I don't know if there's a criteria for the NFL to meet every wish that NFL teams have, right? Because every team's going to have their schedule inequities in some form or fashion, right? I mean, no NFL schedule is perfect across the board.

But I do think the Colts – I know for a fact the Colts petitioned to the NFL, believe it or not, to not have their bye that early in the season.

Just because when you have a week four, week five bye, that makes it tough on the stretch run because then you're playing whatever the math is, 12, 13 consecutive games without a break to end the season.

So there's always just such a – there's differing opinions on – Do you want an early buy or a late buy? Ideally, you want that buy to be somewhere in the middle of the season, weeks 9, weeks 10, October, November, just to kind of split it up.

But if you're asking me, would you rather have an early buy or a later buy, I would prefer an early buy.

I think the Colts disagreed in that.

But there is some optimism with this Colts team.

Your trivia contest coming up here soon, don't you?

Yeah, it's coming up tomorrow night.

So it's the last one before football season for me kind of ramps up.

So unfortunately, these Indiana sports trivia events that I've had so much fun doing and being a part of and putting together in the offseason, last one before they kind of go away before next offseason, unfortunately.

But kind of trying to go out with a bang tomorrow at Googman House Stadium.

which is a great bar and brewery on the near west side of Indianapolis off 16th Street.

I think of like the old Bush Stadium.

guggman house with matt and the gang coming up tomorrow for indiana sports trivia that should be an absolute blast matt taylor voice of the colts on the andy moore automotive group hotline so how far are we away from the first pre-game show venture here not too far away are we

Really amazing memorabilia collection that he had.

Yeah, it really is.

And, you know, the numbers that, you know, all these things are going for are just staggering.

I don't pretend to be an expert in any of it.

However, I have seen it in the past.

You know, obviously when Jim was still with us and was putting the collection on the road and, you know, Jim was, you know, putting on all those performances within the Jim Irsay band.

I mean, I could have... watch that display uh and and sunk my teeth into it uh much longer than than i was actually exposed to it i mean he had some of the most impressive rock and roll artifacts and certainly the guitar collection speaks for itself but i mean just what a fascinating guy he was you know he's missed every single day but um you know he was really into american history and Pop culture, rock and roll.

yeah well moving into this uh kind of a preview of the Colts division here talk let's start off with the Houston Texans I guess you would maybe class are they still would you say the favorite of the division yes it's a really it

Do you think he will be with the Colts week one? And if not, what did you see from Riley Leonard in case he does have to step in for Daniel Jones come week one?

Yeah, I think it's a very fluid situation with Anthony.

For those that haven't been paying attention here to the Colts, once it became very clear that Daniel Jones was going to be the Colts' priority as the starter for the foreseeable future, back around the combine and certainly in free agency when they gave him that contract, Anthony Richardson, his representation asked for a trade.

Nothing came to fruition.

And I thought Anthony has shown a lot of growth and maturity and, you know, a lot of maturation in terms of not only football, but just.

being able to understand the magnitude of you only get one shot at the NFL.

And he's going into the last year of his rookie contract.

Let's assume for a second that Jones is ready to go and he is your starter week one.

I know he's coming off an injury, but what is probably the most intriguing thing about this camp, to me at least, is the battle that's going to ensue at QB2.

Yeah, I think so too.

I really do.

I mean, it's such an interesting dynamic in the offseason.

You brought up Anthony Richardson.

He's in another quarterback battle this year, but it's a little bit different dynamic.

It's the backup quarterback position.

Do you think he's kind of rejuvenated a little bit of his career with Indianapolis after coming over from the Bengals?

But what is happening with the Colts? How are things looking up there?

Well, the big storylines this week just continues to be the health and the progress of Daniel Jones and him looking so good.

This week's now six months removed from a torn Achilles.

The only thing that he has not yet done is 11 on 11 work.

He's still doing seven on seven.

individual drills during OTAs in the mini camp.

And he was actually pretty coy this week.

So what's just kind of the attitude right now?

Were, were veterans there? Were there a mix? What, what would that look like?

Yeah, so this is the mandatory mini camp.

So it's a nine-week process of the off-season workout program, and this is the culmination of all of that.

So believe it or not, the guys started reporting for what they call phase one, uh, way back in April, like the week before the NFL draft.

Uh, and then it slowly starts to ramp up, and then we are in, uh, what they call phase three right now, which is OTAs and mini camp.

So this is the last week of that nine-week program, uh, a three-day mini, mini camp.

Uh, it's the only part of the off-season program that is mandatory, although I should say the Colts have had really good participation outside of like three or four guys, uh, this entire spring.

Yeah