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The NFL today released information regarding the offseason workout program for each franchise, including the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts will begin their offseason workouts on Monday, April 18, which is just a few weeks away. Their OTAs will take place on May 17-19, May 24-26, May 31, and June 1-3. From June 7-9, then, the team will hold their mandatory mini-camp before breaking for the remainder of the offseason.
Just like in years past, the Colts will once again open up one of their mini-camp practices to the fans and will hold it at Lucas Oil Stadium. This year's practice will take place on Wednesday, June 8, and will of course be open to fans to come watch the team. The time has not yet been announced.
The nine-week offseason program is done in three phases, as mandated by the NFL CBA. The first phase is simply two weeks of conditioning and weight training - basically, it's strength and conditioning plus rehab for injured players. After that, the next three weeks are part of phase two, where teams can do on-field workouts for individual players and positions, though no team drills (offense vs. defense) are allowed. Finally, phase three covers the last four weeks of the offseason program and allows teams ten days of organized team activities (OTAs). During these practices, there is still no contact allowed but 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills are all permitted. During phase three, teams can hold one mandatory mini-camp for veterans. For rookies, the teams will also hold a separate rookie mini-camp shortly following the draft, though the exact dates for those will be announced later.
Offseason workouts aren't the most exciting topic, but it's a time for players to actually work with the team and begin working together toward their goal for next season. We'll be hearing some reports out of these workouts, but it really won't be until training camp when we actually begin to get a good feel for some of the players. Nonetheless, these offseason workouts are important and are absolutely worth paying attention to (especially during some of the dead points of the NFL offseason).