A day after Bill Polian gave a big middle finger to his unsigned draft picks, their agents, and their union, Tony Dungy stepped in and painted a much rosier picture of the Colts situation as they enter training camp. Dungy stated that Manning will be back in roughly 3 weeks, and will play in pre-season. Yes, I know. A shocker, indeed. Anyone who said Manning might not play was trying to make news, not report it. Dungy also had some very encouraging news about Marvin Harrison:
“The last I heard from the doctors meeting was that Marvin would be ready to go,” Dungy said of his 35-year-old receiver. “He’s been running and feeling good and everyone is optimistic.”
Based on last year's botched job, many are more than a little cynical of Dungy's prognosis of Harrison. However, unlike last year, Marvin is running and not feeling pain. That's a very good sign. If Marvin is healthy, and it sounds like he is, other NFL teams thinking they have a shot at the Colts just made one big collective groan.
And unlike Bill Polian, Dungy does indeed care that the drafted rookies get signed before camp. In fact, he thinks they'll all be there. With yesterday's signing of 6th rounder Pierre Garcon, Dungy has reason to be optimistic:
The optimist in Dungy also anticipates a rash of rookie signings before Thursday’s midafternoon reporting deadline.
On Tuesday, sixth-round pick Pierre Garcon, a receiver, became the first of Indy’s nine draft picks to sign. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Colts also appear close to an agreement with their top pick, offensive lineman Mike Pollak, who was taken late in the second round.
“Things are going smoothly and we expect him to be in camp on time,” said Ken Zuckerman, Pollak’s agent.
One of the more humorous aspects of the Colts is how Yin and Yang the combo of Dungy and Polian are. It's likely one of the reasons why they have been so successful together. The one bit of bad news for Virginia fans is presumed #2 TE tom Santi will start training camp on the PUP with a (sigh) infected bursa sac. This is the same thing Manning had surgery on.
Honestly, I'm getting real tired of reading the words "infected bursa sac."