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Return of Indianapolis Colts DE Dwight Freeney for Seahawks game "inspiring," QB Peyton Manning says
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Indianapolis Colts DE Dwight Freeney (Darron Cummings/AP Photo)
DE Dwight Freeney didn't lead the Indianapolis Colts in sacks on Sunday afternoon. That statistic went to the Colts' other defensive end, Robert Mathis, who in no way deserves any sort of secondary moniker.
But Freeney did lead the Colts in something during a 34-17 victory over the Seahawks, corny as it might sound.
He led them in spirit.
Freeney, a four-time Pro Bowl defensive end, was reported all week as being out for the Seahawks game. It was, in fact, widely believed he would miss not only Sunday's game, but Indianapolis' game next Sunday against Tennessee with a quadriceps injury sustained last week against Arizona. Instead, Freeney played against Seattle in passing situations, pressuring Seahawks QB Seneca Wallace, registering a sack and re-earning the respects of his teammates yet again.
*** COLTS QB PEYTON MANNING CALLS 4-0 RECORD A GOOD START: INDY FOOTBALL REPORT EDITOR JOHN OEHSER'S GAME STORY. HERE
"I thought Dwight Freeney coming back was inspiring," Colts QB Peyton Manning said in the wake of Indianapolis' fourth consecutive victory to start the season. "At least to me it was. I know how much better I feel when Dwight is playing and I don’t play defense. I got to imagine our guys in the secondary appreciate it.
"A great credit on his part. He was around the clock rehab all week. Everybody is kind of saying he isn’t going to play and I think even some of our medical people didn’t think he would play. That gets me excited when a guy like that has that ‘want to’ inside of him to get out there and play and be there for the team.
"I thought he played great today.”
Freeney, who last season made his fourth career Pro Bowl, not only played against the Seahawks, he registered his fifth sack of another productive season. That he played despite widepsread media reports that he would not he attributed to a his mindset.
“I take things day-by-day," Freeney said. "We do a great job of rehab(ilitation) here, and the things we do around here. I did a lot of stuff at home by myself. I don’t like to set a date, because you set that date, and mentally you’re, ‘I’m not going to make.” Mental is half the battle. By Friday and Saturday, I started feeling better. I came out here, and I already knew my reps were going to be limited. So, I had to make them count. It was fun, though.
“In the middle of the week it was 50/50. I didn’t know. To be honest, I really took it day-by-day. When I woke up in the morning and got out of that bed, I’m going to think ‘Let’s go, today is the day,’ and if’s not there then ok, I have some work to do. I took that approach. Everybody here did a great job. I wish my reps weren’t limited, but that’s ok, I understood. You can’t just throw me out there, but I wanted to be out there more. We did a great job today."
Said Mathis, "He has been working really hard all week to get on the field. You see when he gets on the field, you see what happens.”
Freeney, whose Pro Bowl selection last season came after the first extended injury of his career -- he missed the last seven games of 2007 with a foot injury -- said the memory of that season motivated him this past week.
"To be honest with you, I think what really helped me was when I got hurt that one year and I was out for the season," Freeney said. "Every game that I’m not out there it was like scratches on a chalkboard. It was just horrible. It’s the worst thing for me.
"Playing on Sundays that’s what I love to do. I’m blessed to be out there everyday playing. So, once I feel good enough to play, you never feel 100% at any point in the season, but I felt good enough to go out there and help the team.”
*** INDY FOOTBALL REPORT EDITOR JOHN OEHSER PREVIEWS COLTS-SEATTLE SEAHAWKS HERE *** ON WHAT FORMER COLTS AND CURRENT SEAHAWKS RB EDGERRIN JAMES MEANT TO JOSEPH ADDAI HERE *** COLTS QB PEYTON MANNING NAMED AFC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE MONTH HERE *** COLTS QB PEYTON MANNING ON THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF FORMER COLTS RB EDGERRIN JAMES HERE *** WR PIERRE GARCON AMONG FIVE KEY EARLY-SEASON DEVELOPMENTS FOR 3-0 INDIANAPOLIS COLTS HERE *** *** REVIEWING COLTS PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN'S WEEKLY RADIO SHOW HERE. PART ONE *** REVIEWING COLTS PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN'S WEEKLY RADIO SHOW HERE. PART TWO
DWIGHT FREENEY NEWS
* Colts quiet on status of DE Dwight Freeney
* DE Dwight Freeney out 2-to-3 weeks
* Freeney not ready to accept 2-to-3 week diagnosis
* Freeney plays against Seahawks
MAGNIFICENT SEVENS: WEEKLY 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
Magnificent Seven VI: On RB Donald Brown and the start of the season . . . at last
Magnificent Seven VII: On WR Reggie Wayne, the OL and blitzing
Magnificent Seven VIII: On WR Reggie Wayne, QB Peyton Manning and DE Dwight Freeney
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?
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
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