INDIANAPOLIS -- You can't miss the sign. It stares down from the top of the wall to your right as you enter the locker room at the Indianapolis Colts' training facility:
"NO EXCUSES
NO EXPLANATIONS"
Each "NO" is in red and underlined, just in case the core message from coach Tony Dungy -- in letters large enough to reside in a frame four feet wide and two feet tall -- needs to be any clearer.
AFC South showdown
On a day when several Colts stand in front of their dressing cubicles to discuss the team's disappointing 1-1 start with reporters, you can't help but continually look up at that sign. If ever there were a time when excuses and explanations would be justified, this is it.
Decimated by a rash of injuries and other physical ailments, including the infected bursa sac that caused Peyton Manning to undergo knee surgery just before training camp, the Colts suddenly look like something less than the Super Bowl contender they've been for most of this decade. Their offensive line is so banged up that they've had to eliminate the patented stretch play from what has so far been a nonexistent running game. And Manning, who is still shaking off rust after missing all of the preseason, has been understandably out of sorts while adjusting to increased pressure in the pocket.
"It's like nothing we've ever experienced here before," said Bill Polian, the Colts' president since 1998. "It's been crazy and disjointed and one crisis after another."
The Colts' latest crisis: An ankle sprain that will knock one of their top defensive players, safety Bob Sanders, out of the lineup for up to six weeks. After rebounding from an embarrassing Week 1 home-opening loss to the Chicago Bears by rallying for a dramatic Week 2 victory over the Minnesota Vikings, they barely had 48 hours to savor the win when the news about Sanders broke.
About 700 miles away, at the headquarters of the Jacksonville Jaguars, injuries also dominate the conversation. The Jaguars have been hit especially hard on their offensive line as well, which has contributed heavily to their 0-2 start.
"You see it in the stats, where you have four really, really quality backs who are averaging under three yards a carry," Dungy said. "I think you could have made a ton of money if you would have said, at this point in time, (the Colts') Joseph Addai, (the Jaguars') Maurice Jones-Drew, (the Jaguars') Fred Taylor, and (the Colts') Dominic Rhodes wouldn't be able to average three yards a carry."
"I think, in both situations, we're doing the best we can to plug in guys and continuing to maintain expectations," Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said in a conference call with reporters covering the Colts.
It's easier said than done. Expectations are a little hard to maintain when a lack of healthy bodies makes it a struggle to just practice, a dilemma the Colts faced last week.
Equally difficult is trying not to sound as if you're making excuses or finding a way to explain your struggles. The Colts and Jaguars fully realize they won't get any sympathy from fans, media, or other teams. Think the New England Patriots are shedding any tears as they proceed through the rest of the season without Tom Brady?
"We're going to continue to push forward," Taylor said in his portion of the conference call. "Nobody's feeling sorry for us, so we can't waste energy feeling (sorry) for ourselves."
"We've been very blessed and very fortunate that we've been able to maintain health and stability with having the same kind of net group of guys," said Colts tight end Dallas Clark, who is expected to return to action Sunday after missing last week's game with a knee injury. "But this year, obviously, we've had injuries. We've had guys that we've always seen in there not in there and it makes it a little more difficult. But Coach Dungy isn't going to let us make that an excuse. We've just got to keep getting better, and if everybody focuses on their job, cumulatively, we'll get better as a team."
Still, when a team and its stars are used to performing at a consistently high level, it isn't easy when circumstances bring about a drop in quality. No one has had to confront that more than Manning, who routinely ranks among the top quarterbacks in the game but after two weeks finds himself ninth in the AFC. He has as many interceptions (two) as he does touchdown passes.
Manning has looked mostly uncomfortable through his first two games. He never found his groove in a 29-13 loss to the Bears. He wasn't doing a whole lot better while the Colts fell behind, 15-0, in the third quarter against Minnesota. The closest he has come to his old form was his laser-like, 32-yard scoring strike to Reggie Wayne with 5:54 left in the fourth quarter against the Vikings. Rhodes' two-point conversion tied the game at 15. Manning again connected with Wayne on a 20-yard throw on third-and-9 to the Vikings' 29 to set up Adam Vinatieri's winning field goal.
Manning seems to have pretty much recovered from the knee surgery. His biggest issue has been a lack of timing with some of his receivers, especially second-year man Anthony Gonzalez and the young reserve tight ends combining to pick up the slack for Clark. It also hasn't helped that Manning got little practice time and no playing time during the preseason.
"There are practice reps and then there are game reps, so every single play and repetition is important," Manning said. "It'll be a work in progress as the season goes on. You can learn something new -- different coverages, different blitzes, two-minute situations. But those guys are working hard and that's how you get better -- by going through it."
Then there is the problem of playing behind an offensive line missing its center of the past 10 years, Jeff Saturday (who is expected back for the Jacksonville game), and other starters. The result is the fierce beating Manning took while attempting 42 passes against a Minnesota defense that includes 2007 NFL sack leader Jared Allen. In the first half, the Colts, who have produced a mere 78 yards on the ground (or fewer than 35 players in the league) tried to manufacture a running game while also hoping to maximize Manning's protection. Offensive coordinator Tom Moore had them use two tight ends, but the result was 24 net yards and zero points. In the second half, Manning told Moore, "Hey, we've got to go 'Kings' and throw the ball."
"Kings" is what the Colts call their three-receiver offense. Although Manning knew his protection would be compromised, he felt the Colts needed to take their chances in order to score. He also helped matters by picking up the pace of his execution. He was quicker with his reads and his delivery. Allen and other Viking defenders still got their shots in, but Manning continually lifted himself off the turf and kept battling. Through the final 45 minutes, the Colts ended up producing 297 yards and 18 points.
"He's had maybe more stellar statistical performances, but I can't remember one that was more courageous as this one," Polian said of Manning.
Manning has had to get used to the mixing and matching the Colts have done at receiver in order to put more spark in their passing game. Veteran Marvin Harrison hasn't been the same since returning from offseason knee surgery, but there have been signs of life from No. 1 receiver Wayne and Gonzalez, who has picked up the slack for Harrison. In the three-receiver sets the Colts used against Minnesota, Gonzalez, who normally works from the inside, and Wayne, normally an outside target, alternated from the slot.
Manning isn't likely to have any more comfort in the pocket against the Jaguars than he had against the Vikings. Jacksonville's defensive front is talented and deep enough to take advantage of the Colts' patchwork offensive line. Although Saturday should be back at center, Indianapolis still doesn't have veteran guard Ryan Lilja, who is on the physically-unable-to-perform-list, or tackle Tony Ugoh, who was injured against the Vikings. Charlie Johnson moved from left guard, where he was replacing Lilja, to take Ugoh's place at left tackle, and rookie Steve Justice replaced Johnson. Reserve Dan Federkeil also has been pressed into action to replace rookie Mike Pollak, the projected starter at right guard.
In their Week 2 loss to Buffalo, the Jaguars rotated nine defensive linemen. They might try to get to Manning with only four pass rushers, allowing them to keep seven defenders in pass coverage. That's what they mostly did against the Bills. Or Gregg Williams, the Jags' new defensive coordinator, could stay true to his reputation as an aggressive blitzer, even though it is dangerous against a quarterback as good as Manning.
Either way, the Colts' offensive line is in for an enormous challenge.
"If you have lack of cohesion in your offensive line, then that unsettles everything," Polian said. "Now you can't use the kind of formations you want to use. You can't scheme the game; you just basically have to try and protect the quarterback."
The Colts probably won't be able to do anything too sophisticated on defense, either. That's partly because second-year man Melvin Bullitt will replace Sanders, the catalyst of Indianapolis' defense. Bullitt can't realistically be expected to do everything that the highly versatile Sanders did.
Jacksonville's running game will likely try and exploit that. The Jaguars' passing attack also will look to get Bullitt isolated in coverage so that quarterback David Garrard can take advantage of his inexperience.
Still, the interior of the Jags' offensive line has been severely weakened by season-ending injuries suffered by guards Vince Manuwai and Maurice Williams in a Week 1 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Uche Nwaneri and recently-acquired Milford Brown are doing their best to hold the fort. Ditto for Dennis Norman, who is filling in at center while Brad Meester recovers from a biceps injury he suffered in training camp.
"We have some young guys in there, but they're not backing down from anyone," Taylor said. "And it's my job as a veteran leader to reiterate, 'Hey, we have to go, we have to go. You're all we've got. So let's push this opportunity you've been waiting on and seize the moment.'"
The Colts' veteran leaders do the same with their younger teammates. Defensive tackle Raheem Brock and defensive end Dwight Freeney are conscious of the need to settle things down during tense moments on the field. And there were plenty of them when the Colts fell behind in Minnesota.
"You've got to get them on the same page," Freeney said. "They follow the vets. You tell them, 'Watch what the vets do. Don't try to go out there and re-create the wheel. The wheel's already created. Watch us, do what we do, and just follow.'"
"All you can do is hang tough," Polian said. "The approach stays the same. With Tony, it's always been 'next man up.' And that's what we do."
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