Colts Secondary was Limited Tuesday

This week the Indianapolis Colts hold their mandatory minicamp, which is the last time the team will work together until they report to training camp on July 23, but on the first day of the minicamp, not all of the team was out on the field together.

In addition to guys like Donald Thomas (quad), Reggie Wayne (knee), Vick Ballard (knee), and the guys already on injured reserve (Fili Moala and Corey Lynch) not practicing, the Colts had a handful of other guys sitting out due to a variety of reasons.

Cory Redding didn't participate today and wasn't present because he was dealing with some things with his family and LaRon Landry didn't participate in practice because he was undergoing his physical.  Vontae Davis and Delano Howell both did not participate because they are both dealing with injuries, though neither appear to be serious.

Interestingly, the players sitting out left the Colts secondary with only one out of four starters actually participating - and ironically, that player was cornerback Greg Toler (who missed nearly half of last season due to injury).  Safety LaRon Landry and Delano Howell and cornerback Vontae Davis were all not participating Tuesday at the practice.

Landry, as many of you know, hasn't been working with the team at OTAs and instead has been working on his own, like he usually does.  Now, however, when he actually does show up for minicamp, he misses the first practice.  As Chuck Pagano said Tuesday,

"LaRon's here. LaRon, as you know, works probably as hard as anybody. Wish he was here most of the time but I know that he's working and he probably does too much. So he's away still getting looked at by our doctors, going through a physical and things like that."

Pagano, just like most Colts fans, wish that Landry would work out with the team at OTAs and that's understandable, though at the same time there's nothing wrong with working out on your own, because after all OTAs aren't required.  What that does mean, however, is that there's a bit less patience for said player from the fans, and that seems to be the case with Landry.  Added to the fact that last year Landry played very poorly, the fact that Landry hasn't been at OTAs yet and then, when he does show up, misses the first of three days of minicamp, it doesn't look great.  From what I understand, all of the other players already underwent their physicals and were totally prepared for practice today.  For some reason Landry didn't get his physical completed like the other players and that kept him out of practice today.

In the case of Vontae Davis, Pagano said that he's dealing with a groin injury and is recovering from that.  The Colts signed him to a 4-year, $36 million contract this offseason, so obviously there are going to be a lot of eyes on him.  He's easily the best member of the Colts secondary so the team absolutely needs him to play.  In the offseason especially, however, there's nothing wrong with taking it slowly with injuries and in fact it's normally the best thing to do - so there is no reason at all to freak out about his injury right now.

Delano Howell, the team's other (likely) starting safety, also missed practice due to an injury.  I wish I could tell you more about what his injury is, but I can't - and the reason why is because Chuck Pagano really didn't give any details into his injury.  Pagano said that, "he's dealing with some stuff."  He also called it a soft tissue injury, but that's literally all the details he gave.  While we don't know what exactly his injury is, the general feeling around the team is that it's not super serious (and neither is Davis's).

Making a huge deal out of players missing time in minicamp in the middle of June is what we call a huge overreaction.  But the fact that three out of the four members of the first team secondary were not participating Tuesday is noteworthy, and for a group that has question marks (especially at safety), it'd be nice to get them as much work as possible.