Fresh off the heels of Jeremy Green calling him a "weakness" for this Colts team, we have Daniel Muir on Colts.com talking about the goals he has for himself and the team heading into 2010.
The goal is the same: Nobody runs on us. No way. That's it. No way.
If any of you ever have the chance to meet Dan, whether at an autograph session or just seeing him shopping at your local Walmart, you'll notice right away how pleasant he is to talk to. Muir has a genuine love for football. He enjoys playing it. He relishes being a part of it. It's a positive vibe that rubs off on teammates. Since the two were brought in as, essentially, free agents in 2008, Muir and his fellow mate in the trenches Antonio Johnson have formed a friendship.
We Colts fans certainly remember the circumstances that brought Muir and Mookie to Indy: Ed Johnson getting cut and Quinn Pitcock quitting football. However, from those frustrations circumstances, the Colts managed to find two pretty good players who compliment each other well.
From a John Oehser article on Colts.com dated May 19th:
"Me and (fellow starting defensive tackle) Antonio Johnson always talk, and we set a goal together," Muir recently told The Heavyweights radio show, which is archived weekly on Colts.com.
"Our goal is to have nobody run the football on us. Point-blank. Period."
Last off-season, much of the talk with the defensive tackles involved how the Colts were going to re-work Ed Johnson back into the team. There was also discussion about then-rookies Fili Moala and Terrance Taylor possibly playing significant snaps at tackle. But such discussion did not detract Muir from really developing his game during OTAs last season. He slimmed down and worked with coaches John Teerlinck and Larry Coyer to adjust his stances and get more comfortable in the "tweaked" Tampa-2 Indy ran in 2009.
While it is nice to hear that Fili Moala is making strides and that the Colts have big plans for rookie Ricardo Mathews, it is pretty clear that Dan Muir and Mookie Johnson are firmly entrenched as the starting DTs; and for good reason. During the playoffs, the Colts run defense was dominant. They relentlessly attacked ball carriers, and even injured bruising back Shonn Greene of the Jets in the AFC Championship Game.
Now, with a steady rotation that will hopefully feature Moala, Eric Foster, Ricardo Mathews, and maybe Mitch King, the Colts can start playing run defense the way we all know they can play it.