Chuck Pagano really doesn’t want to talk about the Colts’ offensive line struggles

Anyone who’s watched the Indianapolis Colts play this year (or for the last several years) knows that the offensive line is a concern, and this year they’ve given up 64 quarterback hits and 31 sacks through eight games, both of which lead the NFL.

It has been a collective effort too in the poor play, especially from a surprising culprit: left tackle Anthony Castonzo. In 2014 he was a very solid player and earned a contract extension before last year, but his play has really taken a nosedive and he’s been hurting the team routinely this year.

But don’t try talking with head coach Chuck Pagano about the offensive line’s struggles, because it’s a worthless pursuit. In his press conference today Pagano had no interest in discussing it whatsoever.

When asked about Anthony Castonzo, Pagano said that “our focus is on Green Bay and Green Bay only.”

But Castonzo is their left tackle...

“So he’s focusing on this game,” Pagano said. “This is the next game.”

A little bit later, Pagano was asked about the line as a whole and how they’re coming along after a rough game last week, and he said, “Again, we’re focused on this week, we’re focused on Green Bay. We’ve all got to be better.”

What do they need to do differently? “They’ve got to play better,” Pagano said. “We all do.”

So basically, Pagano wants no part of discussing his team. The reality is that the Colts are 3-5 and in third place in the AFC South (the worst division in football) at the halfway point of the season. That’s not good, and there are a number of legitimate concerns with this football team - one of them being the offensive line.

They did struggle mightily last week and the same has been true of this year overall, and Castonzo has had some really bad play this year. But Pagano doesn’t want to discuss that. He was in no mood to talk with the media today about his current team (which, like it or not, is part of the job requirement of a head coach) and most definitely didn’t want to talk about the offensive line whatsoever. Pagano usually doesn’t give much substance in his answers anyway, but today he wasn’t even wanting to answer the questions.

Look, it’d be one thing if Pagano completely shuts down questions in a press conference and then turns around and has a team that has improved on the field and corrected the issues. Then at least it’s clear that he has the answers and just doesn’t want to deal with the media. But when Pagano’s team consistently and routinely commits the same errors and mistakes over and over and over, and then he simply doesn’t answer questions in a press conference, it just makes you wonder even more whether he has the answers at all.