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The Indianapolis Colts held their mandatory minicamp for the entire team this week, which lasted from Tuesday through Thursday. This morning the Colts finished their final of four practices to wrap up their 2012 minicamp.
The 90-minute practice is the last time the team will be on the field together, and the last time the media will see the team, until training camp starts at the end of July. Players will report on July 28th, with the first practice of camp coming the next day, on Sunday July 29th.
Until then, not much will happen in the National Football League.
Rookies, however, will be allowed in the team's training facility for parts of the next two weeks. They will get to work with coaches on the playbook and will try to catch up to speed with any things they still need work on. The time will be especially valuable to guys like Andrew Luck, who missed OTAs and will get time to work with offensive coordinator Bruce Arians on getting every part of the playbook down. According to Tom James' twitter account, Arians said this morning that Luck already has about 90 percent of the playbook down.
While not much should be made of who does what in minicamp in mid-June, it is still interesting to hear about what is going on with the Colts. So here are some observations from two guys who were in attendance at this morning's practice, Tom James and George Bremer, via twitter.
Working primarily in the red zone, Andrew Luck was 23-for-39 and threw five straight TDs in one stretch.
— George Bremer (@gmbremer) June 14, 2012
Former Purdue DB Brandon King was among the defensive standouts. He dropped a potential interception and broke up another end zone pass.
— George Bremer (@gmbremer) June 14, 2012
The only reason I included the last one was because of how open the cornerback competition is. Maybe King can make a push for solid playing time. Only time will tell, but at least he has been noticed for his play.
WRsDonnie Avery and Reggie Wayne also stood out today, with Avery in particular making a nice TD grab in the corner.
— George Bremer (@gmbremer) June 14, 2012
I have heard good things about Avery out of minicamp. If he can really play well and stay healthy, he could be a huge boost for the offense. Wayne is easily the most experiencedand reliable starter on the offense. Today, however, he had a bit of a scary moment.
WRReggie Wayne appeared to have tweaked his leg when he tangled up with a defender. He returned soon after for next series. Looked to be OK
— Tom James (@TribStarTJames) June 14, 2012
Andlastly, an update on outside linebacker Robert Mathis:
Robert Mathis also made his best defensive play of the minicamp, leaping to bat down a pass at the line of scrimmage.
— George Bremer (@gmbremer) June 14, 2012
Do people make too much out of minicamp? Yeah, they do. But since this is the last time the Colts are on the field until the end of July, of course people are going to pay attention. Overall, do not read too much into how certain people perform in camp, especially Andrew Luck. This week was literally the first time he practiced with the Colts and the veterans. This week was more about learning than performance. If the players really had a great week of learning, then it was a success.