Broadcast: FOXSB Nation Co-Blog: Field Gulls
Injury report prior to kick-off indicates that Gary Brackett and Kelvin Hayden will not play, and we know Anthony Gonzalez and Bob Sanders are also out. Inactives are Brackett, Hayden, Gonzo, Sanders, Jamey Richard, Fili Moala, and Tony Ugoh. For players like Richard, Moala, and Ugoh, they were not scratched because of injury. Only 45 players can dress for a game. The Ugoh scratch is the most astonishing, according to PhilB:
Tony Ugoh has fallen so far, he's a scratch. I mean, Dan Federkeil dresses ahead of Ugoh?
The BIG news is that ESPN's John Clayton reports that Dwight Freeney will play today on passing downs. Indy's WISH-TV is reporting that Freeney will start. Wow!
Bottom line, Freeney is playing today.
We reported here early this morning (via National Football Post) that Chad Simpson has been cut and Mike Hart was elevated from the practice squad. T.J. Rushing will assume full kick returning duties.
For the Seahawks, they are starting a third string left tackle and QB Matt Hasselbeck is out with a cracked rib.
Also of note, via a Yahoo Sports story link FanPosted by Indy Lori, the Seahawks defensive players will use hand signals to make their defensive calls. They are so paranoid that Peyton Manning will catch them changing their defense that all defenders will receive their calls via hand signals from Lofa Tatupu. Defenders will have wrist bands with signals on the bands to help them decipher which call they will use.
This game is the homecoming for Edgerrin James, arguably the greatest running back in Colts history (Baltimore or Indy). At the game today, the crowd will likely give Edge a very warm welcome.
This is the first of many open threads for today. Hope you enjoy. Go Colts!
Seahawks vs Colts coverage