Indianapolis Colts veterans reported to training camp on Tuesday and spent time with the media for the first time since mandatory minicamp in early June. The focus from front office members and players alike was using training camp to hit the ground running in the regular season. Colts General Manager Chris Ballard said the coaches and staff spent time this summer strategically planning the training camp schedule and changing it from last season. More noon practices, according to Ballard, are meant to get players’ body clocks into a schedule that is more similar to that of a Sunday game during the season. Colts running back Jonathan Taylor said the mindset is the biggest issue when it comes to hitting the ground running. He said it is important to not use training camp to ease into the season but rather treat the camp as the beginning of the season when the pedal should be to the metal. Indianapolis opens the season with five games against AFC South opponents in the first seven weeks.
Since coming into the NFL, the Indianapolis Colts and the rest of the league have known him as Darius Leonard. On Tuesday at Grand Park, the All-Pro linebacker said he would like to be called by his middle name, Shaquille. Leonard said he went by Shaquille for the majority of his life up until entering the NFL when the name Darius became the norm for people addressing him. He said that he “hates” being called by his first name and asked the media to refer to him as a collection of different nicknames or the name Shaquille. Leonard spoke to the media on Tuesday but will not be on the field to begin training camp due to his continued rehab from a back surgery he had during the offseason. GM Chris Ballard said Leonard has a lot of pain relief and simply said the linebacker will be back when he is back. Originally, the timeline suggested the pro-bowler would be ready for Week 1 but would miss the majority of training camp.
Big Ten Media Days began on Tuesday from Lucas Oil Stadium. Indiana head coach Tom Allen spoke to the media about the state of the program. After spring football in Bloomington, Allen and the coaching staff did not announce who would be the starting quarterback in 2022. On Tuesday, he doubled down on that stance saying that the team hasn’t made a decision on the starting signal caller. However, Allen did say that there would not be a dual-quarterback system and that the player who wins that battle will be the one and only starting quarterback at that time. Indiana’s season will begin Friday, September 2 under the lights in Bloomington when they welcome Illinois to Memorial Stadium.
