Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan has been in the league long enough to know what works for him during the offseason. That experience bleeds through to the month of July when he gets together for off-site work with his teammates.
There are a lot of changes happening around Ryan in 2022. Much of it has to do with the fact that he’s playing for a different team for the first time in his career after spending 14 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons.
But one thing that won’t change is the process of doing individual workouts with his new teammates. At 37 years old, Ryan knows he needs to be smarter with his arm in order to avoid fatigue. So throwing thousands of passes in a mass group setting isn’t in the plans.
Instead, Ryan will be getting together with his new teammates in groups of two over the course of the next month and a half, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.
Another result—Ryan can now do more for them, both at and away from the facility. To that end, through the NFL’s summer break, he’ll work out with Colts skill players in twos, rather than gathering them all at once, in California, Ohio, Atlanta and Indianapolis. The idea, he says, is “to go slow and steady with each guy,” and get each player the work he needs. Ryan also jokes, “I only have one arm,” so in a bigger setting, especially as he gets older, it’s tougher to get everyone work without wearing himself out.
Head coach Frank Reich loved the idea, stating in an interview with Breer that he doesn’t know of too many quarterbacks who go through the process like that.
“It’s brilliant,” said Reich. “I don’t know too many guys that do it like that. I think it’s showing his experience and savvy as a leader and making each experience more valuable, giving each other the attention that’s going to help elevate their game, as opposed to getting the whole group there. And like he said, he’s only got one arm.”
Getting the chemistry clicking between Ryan and his new teammates will be vital. It’s already started, and it’s clear he has a commanding presence within the locker room. But in order to avoid a slow start, these individual workouts will matter.
The Colts sent their veterans home for the rest of the offseason, but the work being done over the next month and a half will be vital to getting off to a fast start.
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