We'll go bad news first. Bottom line, if Jeff Saturday opts to not have surgery on his strained MCL, he's back in 6 weeks, maybe. If he does opt for surgery, he's back in 11 weeks. That means he'll likely be back in time for the San Diego game on 11/13, or the post Thanksgiving game on 11/30, which is at Cleveland. The issue here is are the Colts willing to carry Saturday on their roster the entire time he's out? This means the Colts would only really have a 52 man active roster. If Indy is willing to carry Saturday, then surgery is the best option. Get it done and get it over with; be back in time for the stretch run, and any potential post-season run. Unlike Shawne Merriman, who is a complete idiot for opting not to have surgery on two torn ligaments in his knee, Jeff Saturday is not dumb. He's in a contract year, and he's 33. Risking further injury means risking the rest of his career.

Indy should put him under the knife and shelf him until Week 11-ish. That's my opinion, anyway.

Now, the positive news. Peyton Manning practiced again Wednesday, and according to Tony Dungy (who was interviewed on ESPN's Hotlist yesterday) Manning looked sharp. The knee did not cause any problems, and Dungy essentially said he would be shocked if Manning did not start against the Bears. When asked if it was a foregone conclusion that Manning would start and play Week One, Dungy said yes.

So there. Manning will play Week One against the Bears, and rookie Steve Justice will likely be his center.

The Colts return to camp today, and when they do they'll likely see a smile on the face of their head coach. Why? Because despite the final score of the Hall of Fame game Sunday, Tony Dungy was very, very pleased with the performance of his team. So pleased in fact that he thinks that was the best job his team has ever done in pre-season:

“It’s probably the best first game we’ve played since I’ve been here. It’s a shame the score ended up the way it did, but we got a number of things done. Some of the young guys we hoped would play well really did step up and play well. It was really encouraging in a lot of areas.”

Now obviously, pre-season wins will get you a nice big pile of Jack Squat. But, it does mean something when your coach of seven years thinks last Sunday's game was the best played pre-season game of his tenure. It reinforces what I saw at camp, and what many of you have said as well.

This is a very, very deep team that could do some special things this season.

Dungy singled out some players, many of them obvious from the game. He praised Mike Hart for his hard running and blocking. He also talked warmly about Roy Hall, Pierre Garcon, and Devin Aromashodu. But where Dungy seemed damn near ecstatic was when he talked about the performance of his o-line:

Dungy said veteran reserve linemen Corey Hilliard and Michael Toudouze played well, but the draft selections were particularly notable.

“It was predominantly them on the inside – Mike, Steve and Jamey playing in those three inside spots,” Dungy said. “It was just a matter of everyone out there doing a good job.

“They played a lot. We wanted to see them, and they did a good job.”

Remember in year's past when the back-up offensive line would get the back-up QB killed? Not this year. After watching Jamey Richard in a game, I think this guy is a keeper as well. Dude has a serious mean streak. I also think Pollak is going to win that starting OG spot. I know Charlie Johnson started, but I didn't hear praise for Charlie after last Sunday's game.

We also got word that Peyton Manning's risk for infection in his knee is now gone, and he's 100% into rehab now. And after watching them on the practice field first hand, I can tell you that Bob Sanders and Dwight Freeney are ready. The Colts aren't playing them because they don't want them to get hurt. Same is true for Marvin Harrison. He's fine. He's healthy. All three players look primed to do what they do: Dominate.

Seeing camp first hand really put my mind at ease on some very key questions. This is a deep team. The stars who were hurt last year are healthy. The offense has some serious weapons. Heck, I think the special teams units might actually look decent this year. But hey, one thing at a time.

You'll find that much of this recap borrows from bamock's excellent recap diary. Despite losing the game because the 3rd and 4th string defense made Colt Brennan look like Joe Montana, I actually turned off the tube feeling very, very good about the roster so far. Many things MasterRWayne and I saw at camp were implemented in this game, such as the onside kick to start. Like all pre-season games, you must take things with a grain of salt because, in the end, the games don't mean anything. What you can learn is how much do certain players want to succeed, and how deep is the talent pool. For the Colts, it seems this is a much deeper team than last year's squad, and there are some solid rookies who might unseat some established vets on this team. Here's what we saw:

• Let's get this out of the way: Jared Lorenzen sucked at camp and he sucked in the game. His "shot put" throwing motion causes the ball to come out late. He also seemed to deliberately trying to showcase himself rather than manage the game. Tom Moore was all over him after several throws. However, on the flipside...
  
• Quinn Gray looked impressive; more so than Jim Sorgi who went 7-10 on the opening drive. The difference between Sorgi and Gray is Gray can get the ball down the field and buy time with his feet. Sorgi's arm strength just isn't there, and while he was more accurate than I saw him in camp, he's not trying to drive the ball downfield. Most of his throws were dump offs or sideline throws. He did have one impressive 15-yarder to TE Gijon Robinson, who impressed.
• Most of you saw what I saw regarding the o-line. Remember year's past when back-up QBs would get hammered because the reserve o-linemen sucked hard. Last night, reserve linemen like Mike Pollak, Jamey Richard, Steve Justice, Michael Toudouze, and Dan Federkeil proved the Colts have a lot of excellent depth along the o-line. Polian wanted to boost up this area in the draft, and boy did he ever! Colts QBs had all day to throw, and the RBs can multiple holes to pick their way through.
• Mike Hart impressed me the most of any player. The kid ran like a man on fire. He lived up to his billing fighting for extra yardage AFTER someone ripped his helmet off. He displayed skill picking up the blitz, but what impressed the most was his burst. Hart took the hand-off, found his lane, and shot through like a bullet. He doesn't have breakaway speed, but he has a good burst through the line. He reminded me of Edgerrin James, especially since he is wearing #32. Hart is living up to his Michigan billing, and I can see why Dungy loves him.

It's still cool to watch Dom Rhodes run, even in pre-season

Photo: AP Photo, Mark Duncan

• Depth at WR is sick! Samuel Giguere didn't even play, yet I found myself worrying over who they will keep. Roy Hall, Devin Aromashodu, Onrea Jones, and Pierre Garcon all impressed. Garcon and Hall in particular made some excellent grabs.
  
• Though Washington QBs threw all over them, the defense in general played solid. Guys like starting MLB Victor Worsley won't make the practice squad. So, don't freak out by the gawdy Redskins QB numbers.
  
• Marcus Howard is a keeper. Dude is scary quick off the line with Freeney-like spin moves and a nose for the QB. He has 1.5 sacks in limited play. Same holds true for Curtis Johnson. Both are fast, fast, FAST speed rushers, and they are making me feel better about Indy's pass rushing depth.
• Special teams coverages looked solid all night. Other than the botched onside kick, I was pleased. Garcon's return looked good, especially since he looked so bad in camp this week.
• It was so cool to see Dom Rhodes out there. He spin move for extra yardage is still fun to watch.
• Jacob Tamme did some nice things, especially considering The Pillsbury Throwboy was launching the ball at him. Gijon Robinson has good hands, but is struggling to block. Dallas Clark is Dallas Clark: Arguably the best TE in football, along with Jason Witten.

I got the sense, reading comments from the open thread, that many of you had similar feelings about the game. This game, and much of what I've seen at camp, has helped me formulate answers to many of the questions you have about certain players (Is Roy Hall improved? Is Eric Foster legit? Do the Colts have depth at DE? Can they rush the passer? Etc.). I'm thinking that the answers to these and other questions are rounding out into good answers. This team seems very talented, and very deep. Offensively, it might get scary when Peyton gets back with the weapons they have. They might have given the best QB in football the best (and deepest) WR corps in football. Add to this the o-line depth and the emerging play of the RBs, and this offense looks primed to do some special things. With the injuries to the LBers on defense, it's hard to tell how that unit is rounding out. They key for them is still the health of Bob Sanders and Dwight Freeney. But, all in all, the defense looks deeper and faster than last year.

I'll blog more about this game later today and this week. As always, for fun Redskins banter, check out Hogs Haven for their recap. Colts still have a ton of work to do, but they seem to be on their way to forming a very formidable roster.

This is what Colts offensive line coach Howard Mudd looks like when he's smiling:

But believe it or not, ole Howard is a happy camper these days. Why? Because his boss, Bill Polian, finally drafted him some o-linemen instead of tossing him scraps from the undrafted free agent pile. Mudd recently chatted with Colts.com writer John Oehser about his current crop of linemen, and the old coach seemed positively chipper:

The Colts selected three offensive linemen – guard Mike Pollak (second round), center Steve Justice (sixth) and guard Jamey Richard (seventh) – in the 2008 NFL Draft, the most offensive linemen the team has drafted in one offseason since Mudd’s 1998 arrival.

The selection of Pollak also marked the earliest the Colts had selected a lineman during his tenure.

"I like them," Mudd said of the trio. "They’re about what we thought they were when we drafted them. I don’t know that they’re real happy with where they are right now. They’d like to be able to do everything a lot better, but if that was the case, we’d have had to draft them a lot sooner than we did.

"But I’m very encouraged. They are exactly what we thought they’d be."

Not sure if Howard meant to quote former Cardinals coach Dennis Green with that last sentence, but who cares. If Howard likes the men he is coaching going into camp, it bodes very well for the Colts offense. Last season, the Colts o-line was nearly decimated by injuries. At one point, with both Tony Ugoh and Charlie Johnson hurt, the Colts had to start Jake Scott, an OG, at left tackle.

I'm amazed Peyton wasn't killed.

This year, with a new crop of youngsters, and promising reserve tackle Dan Federkeil returning from injury, the Colts are much deeper at offensive line. Now, I've made my thoughts on the open starting OG position very clear: Mike Pollak must win the starting job or he was a wasted second round pick for 2008. I'm sure he will develop into a fine player, but if you are an OG taken in the second round, you better be able to produce right now. Fortunately, Mike also sees this, and is working his butt off to become a starter:

Pollak said his challenge during OTAs has been as much mental as physical, something he said he expected.

"Right now, you’re trying to get down techniques and assignments," Pollak said. "When the pads come on, the game speeds up again. That’s the biggest key, so

when it’s time to put the pads on you know what you’re doing, so you can fly around 100 percent.

"I knew coming in that (Colts quarterback) Peyton Manning’s offense was going to be a complicated one. That goes to show you why they’re one of the best teams in the league every year. It’s kind of what I expected, but it is a lot of work, too, studying every day."

Said Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy, "Mike is doing fine. He’s doing what you should do at this point. He’s grasping everything. He’s with Howard and (assistant offensive line coach) Pete (Metzelaars). He’s asking questions, doing all the right things. He’s doing just fine. He’s right on schedule.

Though Pollak is working hard, he might have been one of the recent rookies to express a certain frustration with their progress during OTAs. This is not  necessarily a bad thing:

As for the rookies being generally dissatisfied with their progress, Mudd said there likely is a lot of good to be taken from that.

"If they were pleased with where they were, we probably don’t want them," he said. "You can’t have a player being satisfied with where they are."

Gotta love Howard Mudd. Even though he looks like Captain Caveman and is about as warm and fuzzy as a Howitzer, but  he's still probably the best offensive line coach in football. Yes, I know guys like Alex Gibbs get lots of publicity, but all Mudd does is take first round picks (Tarik Glenn) and undrafted nobodys (Jeff Saturday) and turn them into potential Hall of Famers.

And if he's happy with his linemen, the Colts offense is going to be scary good this year because it seems Howard Mudd is never "happy" with anything.

Well, ok. I guess he's happy when he's near Peyton.

Photo via media3.washingtonpost.com

I'm doing an ongoing series over at Mocking the Draft on which teams improved themselves enough in the draft to move up to the top or stay on top, and which teams didn't. Here's what I said about the Colts and Titans:

AFC South

Yin:

  Indianapolis Colts

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go ahead and say it. The Colts blogger gives his favorite team props. Oh, who didn't see that coming. I'm sure some of you think that, but if you take the tin foil hat off for a sec you'll notice that many people thought the Colts did well with this draft. OG Mike Pollak, OC Steve Justice, and OL Jamey Richard give them excellent depth on the o-line. DE Marcus Howard will spell Freeney and Mathis as a pass rusher, and RB Mike Hart will help spell Joseph Addai. Colts addressed all their off-season needs in one draft. Solid, all around.

Yang:

  Tennessee Titans

The Titans reached big time for RB Chris Johnson in the 1st round despite having significant holes in their secondary and at DE. Jason Jones helps but he is not enough to stem the loses of both Antwan Odom and Travis LaBoy to free agency. They didn't draft a DB until round 7 despite having horrid safeties and an aging Nick Harper.

All this week we've been looking at our new draft choices, trying to see how they'll fit in on the team and all that fun jazz.  But we still don't really know much about the players as people.  It'll take a while to really get a feel for what they're like, but hopefully these facts will help us start to understand them better...or maybe not.

Mike Pollak: He's not, I repeat NOT related to Jackson Pollack.  Just because you were shouting "Who the #$&% is Mike Pollak?" when the Colts made their first pick doesn't change their relation, even if it's something that you'd also say about Jackson Pollack.

Philip Wheeler: Wheeler is the first Yellow Jacket to be drafted by the Colts since their move to Indianapolis.  In fact, the last player from Georgia Tech by the Colts was the immortal quarterback Jim Bob Taylor (I didn't make that name up, honestly) in 1983.

Most of you probably know the 1983 Draft as the famous "Quarterback draft" that had 6 QB's go in the first round, with 3 of them (Marino, Kelly, and that other QB the Colts drafted that year) going on to become Hall of Famers.  Jim Bob didn't go in the first round, and he didn't make it into the Hall of Fame (yet!), but he can claim one thing that none of the other quarterbacks can: Every single ball he passed in the NFL for the exact same yardage.  In his career he had two passing attempts, one was a completion for 20 yards, and the other was an interception that was returned 20 yards.

Jacob Tamme: He earned a degree in integrated strategic communications from Kentucky.  In other words, he should be working with Peyton at ESP level by the end of training camp.

Marcus Howard: Wanna see someone wet their pants?  Just whisper "Here comes Marcus!" in Colt Brennan's ear.

Tom Santi: If you re-arrange the letters in his name, you get moist ant.  I have no idea what a moist ant is, but it sounds pretty dirty.

Steve Justice: Remember how I talked about Philip Wheeler being first Yellow Jacket drafted by the Colts since 1983?  Steve Justice is the first Demon Deacon drafted by the Colts since 1968.

Mike Hart: Has no respect for Jim Harbaugh.

Pierre Garcon: When he's not being made fun of for his especially French-sounding name, he's got a penchant for some pretty dazzling catches, like this one:

Just think how much more spectacular it would have been had it counted.

Jamey Richard: According to his bio, the most impressive person he's ever met is Phil Simms.  I guess that means that Jamey isn't a snowball advocate.