The Indianapolis Colts are back at Grand Park, opening their training camp Thursday for the second year in a row at the Westfield facility.
The first practice of camp was spirited – “a lot of energy as you would expect,” said Colts coach Frank Reich. The second-year coach was happy with the experience of his players, saying that the team has “got a bunch of mature guys” on its roster.
Fans watching Thursday’s first session saw a team working at a high speed, a style for which Reich makes no apologies. It’s preparation for what the Colts will see on Sundays in a few weeks, with the coach saying “we do it out here so that Sunday is nothing new.”
“We got to practice at game speed, we got to think at game speed,” said Reich. “We got to adjust at game speed. We got to try to make it hard on each other out there.”
Quarterback Andrew Luck saw limited action during the first day, as the Colts played it cautious with Luck as he is recovering from a calf injury.
“We’ll just keep progressing,” said Reich. “Tomorrow will be a little bit more and then we’ll re-evaluate. We’re just going to re-evaluate after each day.”
Thursday was the first of four straight days of practices before an off day on Monday. All practices start at 2 p.m., with today’s practice finishing at 4 p.m. Saturday’s practice ends at 3:40 p.m., with Sunday’s practice finishing at 4:15 p.m.
Meanwhile, Colts City is up and running a short walk from where the team is practicing. There are several points of interest at Colts City, including the “Play60” field where young athletes can try out some of the same drills as the pros.
(83) go through their warmups during the first practice of the Colts Training Camp, which took place Thursday at Grand Park. (Richie Hall)