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Indianapolis Colts RB Joseph Addai (Darron Cummings/AP Photo)
The Indianapolis Colts could be fully healthy entering the postseason.
The Colts, after holding 14 injured players out of their regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills Sunday, should get “virtually everyone” back for their first game of the postseason, Colts President Bill Polian said Monday.
“There are always things that crop up that you never anticipate, but I think by and large we achieved one of the goals we had of getting to the postseason as healthy as we can be,” Polian said Monday on his weekly radio show on 97.1 Hank FM in Indianapolis.
“There are no glaring long-termers out there on the horizon. There are guys who probably won't be full strength this week but the expectation is virtually everyone will be next week.”
The Colts on Sunday played the Bills without RB Joseph Addai (shoulder), WR Pierre Garcon (hand), S Melvin Bullitt (shoulder), DE Keyunta Dawson (knee), OT Ryan Diem (elbow), DE Dwight Freeney (abdomen), DT Antonio Johnson (shoulder), OT Charlie Johnson (foot), DE Robert Mathis (quad), CB Jerraud Powers (hamstring), TE Gijon Robinson (knee), LB Clint Session (knee), RB Chad Simpson (concussion) and K Adam Vinatieri (right knee).
“Joseph Addai and Dwight Freeney would have played had it been a playoff game, but in any other regular-season situation – record or not, they would have been held out as they were Sunday,” Polian said. “The bottom line is that's 14 players you're missing who are front-liners. It's pretty hard to play with any kind of continuity when that takes place.
“But back healthy, with two weeks to practice, with all cylinders clicking as we have been in the past – and with the fans behind us as they have been in the past – I think we'll be a darned formidable team.”
Polian on Monday also discussed:
* The status of S Bob Sanders and his future with the team: “He has had tough luck the past two years with injuries. There is no doubt about that. Personally, after speaking the doctors and speaking with Bob himself, we see no reason not to bring him back. We all agree that he is a dynamite player and a guy who brings a dynamic set of skills. Sometimes that dynamic set of skills leads to injury that maybe the average player would not incur because he hits so hard. If you're asking me, 'Is that dynamic set of skills a good tradeoff for perhaps not being available all of the time?' I'd probably say yes. We anticipate that Bob will be back hale and hardy and ready to go and that there won't be any problems and that he'll have the first offseason he has had in the past four years without surgery. That's going to be a good thing for him. It's going to be good for his mental frame of mind and it certainly will be good for his body. We look forward to having him back. He's an impact player and I would refer you to the (Pittsburgh) Steelers, who were the defending Super Bowl champions and who did not make the playoffs this year. I think they would probably tell you in large measure because Troy Polamalu, their great safety who is often compared to Bob and Bob to him, was missing for a good portion of the season. Those kinds of unique players, those kinds of dynamite players, you don't part with very willingly.”
*The Colts' bye-week approach: “(Head Coach) Jim (Caldwell) is in many ways influenced by (Penn State Head Coach) Joe Paterno. One of the reasons Joe Paterno has won a record 23 bowl games is that when they approach a bowl game once the regular season ends they go back and have spring practice. We can't do that, obviously. They have 105 guys. We have 53. But they go back and concentrate on fundamentals: 'Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves.' We will go back this week to a very fundamental week: work on blocking and tackling. We'll have some contact. We'll work on the basic fundamentals of our offense and our defense. That will get us in position where we can refresh and retrace the steps we took in training camp and in OTAs, then get ready to go back into a preparation mode on Tuesday when we find out ultimately who our opponent will be.
* Playing the first playoff game on a Saturday: “Listen: in the playoffs, you'd play in a vacant lot at noon. As long as the vacant lot was surrounded by our fans, that'd be fine with me. The bottom line is you play when they tell you to play where they tell you to play. The fact is, and I can't overemphasize this, that the home-field advantage is critical. It's critical not because you don't have to travel. I think we're the best road team in the league over the last five years. That's not the issue. The issue is that you have the home fans behind you. You have the 12th man on your side. That's really what we need to have.”
Reviewing Bill Polian's weekly radio show . . .
* Part One: "The past is prologue." Here.
* Part Two: Pursuing milestones "right decision." Here.
* Part Three: Colts could be fully healthy entering postseason. Here.
* Part Four: Difficulties against New York fatigue, not rust. Here.
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