Well, I was all jazzed and excited once MasterRWayne and I got to Trainng Camp. We braved a Noah-like storm in Indy, drove along 70, and by the time we reached Rose Hulman the place felt like the bayou: Hot, sticky, and wet, wet, wet. We walk over to the practice fields, and as we get there the players arrive. I was really pumped. The whole place was excited. Several dozen people are there at 8:30am on a rainy Monday. I'm not there 5 minutes before someone in the crowd hits me with the day's bombshell...
McFarland is done for the year. Tip to bapite for posting this in the diaries.
I've been away from an Internet connection for two days while traveling. The news hits me like an axe kick to the nuts. I was cheering and laughing not more than 10 minutes before. Then, I felt like my dog died. The one injury (other than Manning) that the Colts absolutely could not have happen to them... happened. McFarland's loss is a major loss. I won't sugar coat that or hide away from it. Losing McFarland is more devastating than losing Tarik Glenn.
It's now up to Polian to pull another rabbit out of his hat. Without a premier defensive tackle, this Colts defense cannot compete. Obviously, I'm not "giving up" or saying "woe is me." But I'm not going to kid myself: This is a major, major loss.
Despite the bad news, we fans will sally forth because MasterRWayne and I saw some great stuff at camp today. Also, read jdb's account of camp today as well. He's got some great stuff there. I'll have my views on the offense up soon, and MasterRWayne will have his defense observations up as well.