After a bit of a disjointed practice from the Colts’ offense on Saturday, the unit bounced back in a big way on Sunday, producing several explosive passing plays.
“Yesterday we weren’t too thrilled with how we performed,” said Alec Pierce after Sunday’s practice, “and a lot of that was to do with just mental stuff, like pre-snap, just messing up little things–details.
According to Joel Erickson of the Indy Star, among the big passing plays included completions from Anthony Richardson to Josh Downs for 50 yards and another 20-yard completion to Jelani Woods.
Jake Arthur of Horseshoe Huddle noted Richardson also connecting with Pierce for a 20-yard completion, along with hitting DJ Montgomery for 25 yards with Dallis Flowers in coverage.
The second offense got in on the action as well, with Joe Flacco finding Ethan Fernea for 40-plus yards, completing a deep pass to Ashton Dulin, and then connecting with AD Mitchell for about 20 yards.
“We got to be more on the details and just come out here and have a better day,” added Pierce. “Just executing the stuff, lining up right, having your splits right, cleaning up the pre-snap penalty. I think we did a lot better job, and then kind of just it came along with it, is we made some big plays. We made some explosive plays.”
Generating more explosive pass plays on offense this season is a major priority for the Colts.
For one, the vertical threat is an important element of Shane Steichen’s offense, and certainly having Richardson back under center will help create more big play opportunities.
But in addition to that, Mitchell with his 4.34 speed and explosive route running abilities should provide more chances for the offense to stretch the field as does the return of Jelani Woods at the tight end position.
On top of that, having both Richardson and Jonathan Taylor healthy and in the backfield will help open up the passing game with the attention that those two can draw.
“It’s so exciting because it’s almost like there’s a whole new element now,” said Taylor about playing with Richardson. “You’re not just worrying about what I’m doing, it’s like, you better worry about this guy because if not he’s going to kill you.”
Arthur adds that overall on Sunday, Richardson was 10-for-14 passing with completions to Downs, Kylen Granson, Will Mallory, Pierce, Taylor, Woods, Mitchell and Drew Ogletree. Richardson did, however, throw his first interception of training camp, which was more so a very impressive play by Julian Blackmon.
