Coffee with the Colts: A next-day look at the Indianapolis Colts-Cincinnati Bengals preseason finale

Indianapolis Colts WR Taj Smith (AP Photo)

Indy Football Report Editor John Oehser takes a next-day look at the Indianapolis Colts' 38-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati . . .

THE QUICK LEAD . . .

Most of today's Coffee with the Colts involves the comments of Colts President Bill Polian, who spoke extensively to the team's radio broadcast after a 38-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2009 preseason finale Thursday. He has a lot of decisions to make over the next few days and discussed them with Voice of the Colts Bob Lamey late Thursday.

Polian wasn't thrilled with the effort. The reason had little to do with the score.

“I was joking with the coaches after the game, ‘We had a lot of questions going into the game,''' Polian said. “'Many of them were answered. Unfortunately, the answer was, 'No, in a lot of cases.’ It only takes 53, not 80. We’ll sort through it. There are areas we’re going to have to shore up, but we’ve had those issues before.

“We faced the very same issue the year we won the Super Bowl. We’ll get it squared away.”

Polian spoke of the need to continue to shape the roster in the coming days by combing the waiver wire and by possible trades.

“I said to someone before the game, 'It's not the scoreboard that counts – it's how the individual matchups and the standard of performance measures up from player to player,''' Polian said. “There's an old story, 'They cut themselves.' Well, there were plenty of guys who cut themselves tonight, but I think there were some who also distinguished themselves and will have a bright future here.

“(Friday), we'll get after it, look at the tape and we'll try to get the best 53 we can.”

A FEW QUICK POLIAN QUOTES . . .

The score ain't the thing . . .

“I have never taken any stock in the fourth preseason game other than to try to judge players, and to put players in positions where they absolutely have to perform against a team like the Bengals, who played their people two series and their seconds virtually the whole ballgame. You're looking for standard of performance and if you get it, great. If you don't, then move on.

“I'm not terribly worried about our football team.”
 

His message to fans . . .

"The fans should not be down about tonight's performance. Frankly, we expected it. We didn't think it would be an artistic success. There were some areas where we played very poorly and there were some areas where we played well. That's not the important thing. The important thing is to get the questions answered and I think in the overwhelming majority cases they were answered.

Good and bad . . .

“There were a lot of positives and a lot of negatives, quite frankly. The negatives don't worry me too much, because they don't effect how we play against Jacksonville (in the regular-season opener September 13).”

A BUSY WEEKEND . . . AND BEYOND . . .

The Colts will have to cut the roster to 53 by 6 p.m. Saturday evening, then at noon the following day, player claims can be made. The eight-player practice squad can be set Sunday.

“They will be very active days for us,” Polian said. “We'll scan the horizon and see what's out there. Maybe we'll make a waiver claim or two, you never can tell. That's what we'll spend the next three days debating and looking into. By Wednesday, with the exception or perhaps an injury or two, I know we'll have a team we feel good about and I hope we have a 53-man team. . . .

“We're very far down in the claiming priority, so if you're claiming a guy with an outstanding performance and a bright future, you're not going to get him, so you have to talk trade."

NO ONE SAFE . . .

The Colts have been successful in recent seasons for many reasons, one of which is the focus on signing rookie free agents. Polian said the decisions of the coming days will not be made on how a player was acquired.

“We're not going to keep anybody because they were a draft choice,” he said. “We're going to keep the guys who we think can win in the National Football League. That's the sole criteria. If you can't, then we'll figure out what to do from there. . . .

“We want to look at the tape. We want to see how people did. We want to see how they measured up. We're not going to keep anybody for the sake of keeping numbers.”
 

PLENTY OF CORNERS . . .

Polian said he felt confident the team was solid at cornerback.

“I'm sure we have five corners,” he said. “The question is, 'How many safeties do we have and are they healthy? That's one issue.”

BREAKING DOWN THE ROSTER . . .

Polian took a look at the Colts' roster and offered a bit of insight at most positions . . .
 

Quarterback . . .

Polian liked what he saw from the position in preseason . . .

“As I said to Jim Caldwell, 'How many people in the National Football League can feel good about our three quarterbacks. Not many.'''

He liked backup QB Jim Sorgi . . .

. . “I was thrilled with Jim Sorgi. For his first outing, and with literally no help – dropped balls, fumbles – he was terrific. That's a real positive. You would like to have him throw the ball away a little more, but he's a real competitor, so he hung in there and took some huts you wish he wouldn't have taken.”

. . . and he liked reserve QB Curtis Painter . . .

. . . “Curtis was fine. He had little help and a makeshift offensive line by that time. He did a very good job.”

Caldwell liked Sorgi's performance, too . . .

“Sorgi was one of the bright spots,” Caldwell said. “He hadn't had an opportunity to play much. He had an opportunity to get in there and execute a nice drive did a very good job. That was a very bright spot.”

Caldwell told the media, “Sorgi hasn’t gotten much playing time during the preseason, but I thought he found his way out there and had a pretty good drive that he put together. He showed some flashes of what he could do.”

Finally, Sorgi also told the broadcast he felt good . . .

“I feel like I got us in the right play most of the time.”

Sorgi missed the first three games with a hamstring injury.

“The hamstring responded well," Sorgi said. "I would have liked to have put up some more points, but that comes with the territory. You could tell I was a little out of shape and a little winded out there, I started out pretty good, and pretty sharp, then I kind of lost a little sharpness at the end of the first half.”

Caldwell addressed the process of deciding whether to keep three quarterbacks. The Colts in recent seasons have kept two.

“A lot of it depends on the numbers,” he said. “When you look at numbers overall and how it plays into other positions — historically over the years, we’ve only had two. Obviously, that would mean there would be one less somewhere else. It just depends year by year whether or not you can afford to do that. We’ll have to make that assessment here in the next couple of days.”

Polian on . . .

Running back: “I know we have three running backs and that's traditionally what we've played with. And Lance Ball did a nice job tonight. You can't fault the way he played.”
 

Wide receiver: "The receiver position remains to be seen. We have to take a hard look at that.” . . . (Rookie WR Brett McDermott) continues to show up and make plays. . . . (Rookie WR John Matthews) has not yet learned he's not playing at the Division III level. He's not playing Azusa Pacific, so the ball gets knocked out and things like that happen. But there are some positive things, too, there. He gets open and catches the ball. He never has played against anybody ay good as (Bengals CB) Morgan Trent and he got open.That's a plus."

Tight end: “I think we're fine, especially if Tom Santi gets back healthy relatively soon and the report is he will.”
 

Offensive line: "I'm sure we have eight offensive linemen. . . . There were some guys on the offensive line who did a nice job and others who didn't. That's the nature of pro football. We only need eight at that position, not 10. Are we going to have eight? I think so.”
 

Defensive line: "I'm pretty sure we have eight defensive linemen. . . . The defensive line was average to say the least, but I thought for a guy who's never taken a snap at defensive end, John Gill showed a lot of courage and a lot of heart. And a lot of hustle. Those are the kind of things you can work with to develop a player. I was exceedingly impressed with him.”

Secondary: “(Rookie CB Jacob) Lacey once again showed up, as he's shown up in every preseason game.” Lacey has eight pass breakups and an interception in three preseason games.

QUOTABLES AND NOTABLES . . .

Notes from the Colts' radio broadcast . . .

The Colts allowed six sacks on Thursday. “It's like Jim Caldwell always preaches, 'Ten guys can be on the same page and one guy can be off,''' Colts first-year center Kyle DeVan said. “That's something that might have happened. Overall, we had some really good protections. A couple of slipups and now your quarterback's getting hit and you're fumbling.

“That's things we can't have up front. We have to clean that up if we want to win.” . . .

DeVan, who signed as a free agent in the offseason from ArenaFootbal2, has made a serious run at a roster position. On Thursday, he played center after playing guard in the other preseason games.

“To play at this level, you have to be able to lay all three,” he said. “Tonight was my first long stunt at center. It felt good. I felt comfortable in there making the calls. I've put my best foot forward and I'll leave it to them to evaluate and see here we go this weekend.” . . .
 

Caldwell said he didn't know the extent of TE Jamie Petrowski's injury. . . .

K Adam Vinatieri (knee, ankle) returned from the PUP list Thursday and said afterward, "I feel alright. I feel as good as I can. It’s one of those things. Guys get nicked up along the way. I got nicked up before it started, but I think I’m going to get healthier along the way. I am going to continue to get healthy and get stronger and be ready to go.” He was asked if he will kick off against Jacksonville. "We’re progressing to that," he said.  "I’m not giving any secrets away. You’ll have to wait and see. We’re getting to the point where we’re feeling comfortable about getting on the field and doing this stuff. I don’t think we’re at any risk of injuring anything. We’re moving forward and getting timing down with the guys. I watched a lot of kicks during camp. I haven’t been able to do a lot of them yet, but I’m getting there.”

THE LAST WORD . . .

. . . goes to RB Chad Simpson, who returned six kickoffs for a 26.3-yard average. He was asked by Colts Radio about the coming days and waiting to learn if he made the roster.

“They're basically like America's Top Model,” he said. “All of us are standing here and hopefully, we'll be there next week."
 

*** READ IFR EDITOR JOHN OEHSER'S LIVE IN-GAME BLOG ON COLTS-BENGALS . . .

*** WHAT MIGHT THE COLTS' 2009 SEASON-OPENING DEPTH CHART LOOK LIKE? READ JOHN OEHSER'S THOUGHTS HERE. 

*** READ IFR EDITOR JOHN OEHSER'S BENGALS-COLTS PREVIEW . . .

*** GAME REPORT: BENGALS 38, COLTS 7

THIS WEEK'S COLTS NEWS

* QB Jim Sorgi to remain backup behind QB Peyton Manning

* Colts place CB Michael Coe, two others, on waived-injured

* CB Kelvin Hayden says he'll return for regular-season opener

* K Adam Vinatieri taken off PUP list

MAGNIFICENT SEVENS, 2009 PRESEASON COLTS THOUGHTS

Magnificent Seven I: Seven training camp thoughts and observations

Magnificent Seven II: On the Colts' defensive tackle position and WR Reggie Wayne

Magnificent Seven III: On the Colts' running backs and offensive line

Magnificent Seven IV: On the Colts' offense, OG Ryan Lilja and WR Anthony Gonzalez

Magnificent Seven V: On S Melvin Bullitt and QB Peyton Manning

EXAMINER SERIES: TWENTY PRE-TRAINING CAMP QUESTIONS WITH THE COLTS . . . 

 1) Will Jim Sorgi be the backup quarterback?

2) Will Special Teams be Special?

3) Who will be the Colts' breakout player in 2009?  

4) Will loss of former Head Coach Tony Dungy hurt in 2009? 

5) What will defense look like in 2009?

6) Will DT Ed Johnson impact the defense in 2009?

7) How important is the return of OG Ryan Lilja in 2009?

8) Will K Adam Vinatieri be ready in 2009? 

9) Will WRs be improved in 2009? 

10) Will OL improve in 2009? 

11) Will S Bob Sanders be healthy in 2009?

12) Will secondary be one of NFL's best in 2009?

13) Who will start at RB in 2009? 

14) What roles will Tom Moore and Howard Mudd play in 2009?

15) Can QB Peyton Manning improve again in 2009?

16) Will the Colts be OK at LB in 2009?

17) Will CB Kelvin Hayden make the Pro Bowl in 2009?

18) Can TE Dallas Clark make the Pro Bowl in 2009?

19) Can OT Tony Ugoh develop into franchise-level LT?

20) Can the Colts win the Super Bowl in 2009?

THE POSITION-BY-POSITION PRE-TRAINING CAMP SERIES: 

• The QUARTERBACKS
• The RUNNING BACKS
• The TIGHT ENDS
• The WIDE RECEIVERS
• The OFFENSIVE TACKLES
• The OFFENSIVE GUARDS
• The CENTERS
• The DEFENSIVE ENDS
• The DEFENSIVE TACKLES
• The LINEBACKERS
• The CORNERBACKS
• The SAFETIES

OTHER EXAMINER COLTS TOPICS . . .

• Colts QB Peyton Manning on Steve McNair
• Steve McNair's career often intertwined with the Colts
• QB Peyton Manning omitted from ESPN.com's All-Decade team
• The best of the Indianapolis Colts blogosphere . . .
• Manning: Influence of Tony Dungy still felt around Colts
• Mudd, Moore return inevitable, happy end to long story
• Colts to allow sponsors on practice uniforms
• Why Colts QB Peyton Manning is primed for another big season
• Re-signing DT Ed Johnson makes DT situation even better
• SERIES: Peyton Manning Top 10 underrated moments.
• Breaking Down the 2009 Colts Schedule
• A recap of the Colts' 2009 NFL Draft