The Colts are finally into game week, and the first real test arrives Sunday at 1:00 PM when Baltimore comes to Lucas Oil Stadium.
There’s a lot packed into this opener, but the biggest early personnel note is that Shane Steichen said Alec Pierce “should be good to go” for Sunday. If Pierce gets through the rest of the week, that would give him seven practices as he ramps up for Week 1.
The real question isn’t just whether he’s active. It’s how much he can actually handle and whether he can still force defenses to treat him like the deep threat he usually is.
Even when the ball isn’t going his way, Pierce changes the way a defense lines up. If he’s not fully there, that opens the door for Baltimore to shift attention elsewhere.
Steichen also made it clear he doesn’t see the opener as some special moment for urgency - because, in his view, it should already be there every year. That lines up with what Carlie Irsay-Gordon said in January, when she noted, “We have been very clear with Chris and Shane that giving them another opportunity means that the sense of urgency for them to deliver and perform has never been higher.”
Asked about that message on Wednesday, Steichen said, “I think every year in this league, the urgency’s got to be high, regardless of circumstances, whether you go to the playoffs or you don’t go to the playoffs, you got to go and work your butt off every single day to do the very best you can be,” the head coach said on Wednesday. “Because at the end of the day, I talk about preparation all the time, the separation in this league is in the preparation, but you got to prepare the right way, and then sometimes…the process will control the outcome, so our process has got to be great, and that’s the way I look at it.
So, my urgency level is very high. I know these players and coaches’ urgency level is very high because we have a good football team, but we got to go make plays and win games.”
He added that after three straight years out of the playoffs, “Yeah, I think so. Absolutely.
I mean, we got a lot to prove, and we got to go out and prove it. Every week.”
Daniel Jones is another major piece of the opener, and Steichen said there are no limitations for him after the quarterback’s return from a torn right Achilles. Jones is back in the lineup 280 days after the injury, and Steichen’s answer on Wednesday was simple: “He’s ready to go.”
Jones looked healthy in camp, and now the red jersey comes off for real. The only remaining question is whether any of the random in-game movements reveal something lingering.
In camp, though, he looked fully healthy throwing the football.
Baltimore’s offensive line situation gives the Colts a chance to create problems up front. The Ravens are starting Jovaughn Gwyn at center, and he has just 11 career offensive snaps across three NFL seasons with no starts.
Baltimore is also rolling out starters at left guard, center and right guard who weren’t on the roster last season. That sets up what should be a favorable spot for Grover Stewart and DeForest Buckner.
Buckner, in particular, is coming off a preseason in which he was involved from the start of training camp and got built up to a workload the Colts are comfortable with.
The Colts will be thinner at cornerback than they’d like. Veteran and versatile Cam Taylor-Britt is suspended for one game, leaving them without what the team views as its fourth corner behind Sauce Gardner, Charvarius Ward Sr. and Justin Walley. That trio makes the position a strength when everyone is available, and the Colts will need it to play like one because the front seven needs time to work.
At linebacker, Indianapolis is expected to open with Akeem Davis-Gaither and Jaylon Carlies. Davis-Gaither arrived from the Cardinals this offseason and already has a history with Lou Anarumo against Lamar Jackson.
Carlies took a major jump up the depth chart after logging just two defensive snaps all last year. That leaves second-round pick CJ Allen as a watch item after his injury-plagued preseason.
He’s been healthy for a couple of weeks now, but how much he fits into the rotation remains to be seen. Against Jackson, eye discipline is going to matter for whoever is on the field.
There’s also recent history on the Colts’ side against Baltimore coaches. Steichen and Jones carved up both Jessie Minter and Anthony Weaver last season.
Against Minter, then the Chargers defensive coordinator, the Colts scored 38 points and piled up 401 total yards. In last year’s opener against Weaver, then with Miami, the Colts put up 33 points and didn’t punt.
Baltimore’s staff is different now, but Steichen and Jones already showed they can make life miserable for those play callers.
One of the most important one-on-one battles will come on the edge, where Trey Hendrickson is expected to see plenty of Jalen Travis. Travis, filling in for Braden Smith, started four games as a rookie and now steps into the full-time right tackle role.
Hendrickson has 39 sacks over the last three seasons in 41 games, and the Colts were heavily interested in pairing him with Anarumo this offseason. Instead, he’ll be lining up against the new starter on the right side.
The Colts also know exactly what they’re getting into with Lamar Jackson. Anarumo has faced him 10 times in those Ravens-Bengals matchups, and Jackson has completed 62.9 percent of his passes with 22 touchdowns and three interceptions in those games.
He hasn’t posted huge rushing numbers in those meetings, but he has done enough damage through the air to keep defenses on edge. Now he’s in a new Baltimore offense with first-time play caller Declan Doyle, facing Anarumo with different personnel around him.
Indianapolis is on its weekly rhythm now: on-field work Wednesday through Friday, a Saturday walk-through, and then the 1:00 PM kickoff Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
In Other News...
Colts Enter Week 1 With Their Biggest Roster Doubt Unanswered
The Colts are heading into Week 1 with a familiar mix of hope and uncertainty, and a number of preseason evaluations have them stuck in the middle of the league picture. Across several power rankings, Indianapolis lands anywhere from 19th to 23rd, a range that reflects real questions about health, depth and how much margin this roster has if things go sideways early. The outlook is already tied to the availability and play of Daniel Jones, Jonathan Taylor and Alec Pierce, which says plenty about where the team stands entering the new season.
The schedule does not offer much room to ease into things, either, with a demanding opening stretch that will quickly test whether the Colts can look more like a contender than a wait-and-see team. Projection models have them finishing third in the AFC South, and with Baltimore and Kansas City looming before a key division game with Houston, Indianapolis may spend the first part of the year proving it belongs in the conversation at all. However the first week plays out, the bigger question around this team remains unanswered. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Rookies Are Already Pushing For Bigger Week 1 Roles
The Colts Week 1 roster already has a distinctly young feel, with eight rookies making the initial 53 and a few of them positioned to matter right away. Linebacker CJ Allen is the clearest candidate to carve out early defensive snaps, while safety AJ Haulcy could be in line to start if hes healthy enough to take on that responsibility. Running back Seth McGowan also looks like he has a path to a backup role, giving Indianapolis some rookie depth in a backfield that may need it.
Even beyond those names, the rookie class is shaping up to be more than just a group of special teams fillers. Several of the first-year players are expected to contribute in limited offensive packages or on coverage units, which should help the Colts build out the bottom of the roster while keeping options open as the season begins. The bigger question is how quickly the team trusts those young players once the games start to count, especially with a few of them already knocking on the door of larger roles. [Read more 🡒]
Colts Face An Early Alec Pierce Concern Ahead Of Week 1
Alec Pierce showed up on the Colts first injury report of the season as a limited participant because of a heel issue, a reminder that the opening week often comes with as many health questions as football ones. Pierce had recently returned to full practice participation, so this is not a brand-new concern, but it does add a little uncertainty to how much Indianapolis can lean on one of its top perimeter targets right away.
The timing matters because the Colts are trying to get their offense settled heading into Week 1, and any restriction for Pierce would shape the early snap distribution at receiver. He was joined on the report by rookie safety AJ Haulcy, tight end Drew Ogletree and center Sedrick Van Pran-Granger, each listed as limited for their own health reasons, leaving Indianapolis to monitor a few moving parts before the opener. [Read more 🡒]