Colts Training Camp 2008: First night practice

Did you attend the first night practice? If you did, you were lucky. The night practices at training camp are indeed quite cool. Players love them. Fans enjoy them. The atmosphere is festive. The only thing that would ruin it would be John Madden showing up and watching the practice, and as JakeTheSnake pointed out, Madden is still a complete dumbass. My favorite was when he spoke at the HoF last year, and talked about how he thought the busts in Canton talked to each other at night when no one was around.

And he didn't seem to be joking when he said it.

Anyway, if you attended night practice, or the morning practice, here are some things you may have noticed:

• Samuel Giguere is fast, runs good routes, and works like a demon. However, he's having trouble catching the friggin' ball, and it is driving receivers coach Clyde Christenson nuts. Dungy has high praise for Mousier Guns, but a receiver who cannot catch is like a porn star who can't... uh... oh, nevermind. Catch the ball, Giggy.
• Players the Colts are using as kick and punt returners: TJ Rushing, Pierre Garcon, Samuel Giguere, and Chad Simpson.
• Coaches and players love having Dominic Rhodes back, and he has looked very, very good in camp. Colts RB coach Gene Huey, who is arguably one of the best positional coaches in football, seems especially impressed with his crop of RBs this year. Though Dom has worked well, Huey says that other RBs have looked good too and that anyone could potentially back-up Addai:

  "We’ve got some rookies who are working well. Mike Hart from Michigan is doing a good job. Cliff Dawson, who’s been here [one year], is doing a good job too. Those youngsters like Chad Simpson and Mike Hart are doing well on special teams. They’re trying hard to make the team."

  You will of course notice Kenton Keith's name missing from the praise list.
• Rookie DT Eric Foster is weighed at 265, put people keep saying he looks 290.
• The Colts are telling reporters to not expect any roster moves at DT. They want to see what young players like Foster and Colin Ferrell (no, not the dumb actor) can do first. So, looks like no Booger McFarland... yet.
• Roy Hall was beating Kelvin Hayden routinely. Hall continues to impress at camp.
• ESPN's Cris Carter thinks this Colts offense is the most talented he has seen in Indy during the Manning era (see video via 18to88).
• DT Darrell Reid, when is isn't clobbering Chris Henry, is working as the Colts FB on goal-line and short yardage situations. When he returns from the PUP, rookie TE Tom Santi will also split some time at FB.
• Clint Session hurt his calf during a FG last night. Eric Foster did not practice, and was excused for personal reasons.
• Offense seemed to click last night. Colts doing more prep for the HoF game, working on situations like offense backed up against the goal-line; offense down 4 with 2 minutes left; offense up 3 with two minutes left; etc.

I'm missing this morning's practice because I got in late last night. I will definitely be at both practices tomorrow with updates posted as soon as practices end.