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Yesterday, we mentioned that Colts tight end Dwayne Allen, who has been working out away from the team so far this offseason, would be back next Monday for when the Colts start OTAs.
Well, it turns out that the tight end decided to show up a little early, as he was back at the Colts' facility today in advance of OTAs.
Dwayne Allen back to work. The @Colts will conclude Phase Two of their offseason program tomorrow. OTAs start Monday pic.twitter.com/rBxYv3ixey
— Kevin Bowen (@KBowenColts) May 13, 2015
As Kevin Bowen notes, the Colts are concluding phase two of their offseason program this week and will begin phase three on Monday - which means that it's almost time for OTAs. Allen had previously told 1070 the Fan that he was working out in Arizona purely to rehab and get healthy for the 2015 season but that he would be back for OTAs.
Today, Allen told the media, including the Anderson Herald Bulletin's George Bremer, that he was playing at about 70 percent in 2014 and that his body broke down in 2014 down the stretch. Therefore, Allen's workout program in Arizona was designed to prevent that from happening again in 2015.
Allen also told Bremer that, though he's entering the last year of his contract, he's not thinking about it. While that's the smart thing for him to say and the expected thing for him to say, it definitely is a factor for the Colts' management and makes it a big season for Allen. With an extension for Andrew Luck likely coming next offseason and other players such as T.Y. Hilton, Anthony Castonzo, Coby Fleener, and Allen all set to be free agents, the Colts could have some decisions to make as to who to keep. It's expected that Hilton and Castonzo will be their top two priorities, and it's possible that the Colts might have to choose between the tight ends - though they'd like to keep them both. If Allen deals with another injury-plagued season in 2015, it might make that decision much easier on the Colts than it otherwise would have been. So for Allen, it's crucial for him to be healthy and at his best in 2015, and not just because of his contract status but also because he wants to be out there helping the Colts. When he's healthy, he's one of the most complete tight ends in the NFL and a crucial part of the Colts' offense, and so getting him out there consistently would be huge.
That's Allen's goal in 2015, too, and that's why he has been working out away from the team so far this offseason. But with OTAs set to begin next week, Allen is now back at the Colts' facility to be with his teammates.
UPDATE: It turns out that, while Allen still was planning on doing another week of training in Arizona, Chuck Pagano texted him saying "we need you here." Interesting. This is per the Indianapolis Star's Zak Keefer:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Colts?src=hash">#Colts</a> Dwayne Allen had another week of training at EXOS in Arizona. Until Chuck Pagano texted him "We need you here." So he's back in Indy.</p>— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) <a href="https://twitter.com/zkeefer/status/598531050294386688">May 13, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>