Blue
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- Mar 19, 2019
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» Sunday's practice on a partly-cloudy, windy day in Indy was a lot like Friday's; there was extensive 11-on-11 work between the offense and defense, some 7-on-7s and special teams work in there, too.
» There was a clear theme throughout the first-team work on Sunday: Philip Rivers to T.Y. Hilton. The two veterans connected on several pass plays throughout the session all around the field. This work is critical for the Colts' top wide receiver, who missed the first few days of on-field drills and practices as he worked his way back from a minor hamstring issue that put him on the Non-Football Injury list at the start of camp. Hilton's rapport with his new QB certainly seems to be growing.
» Clear evidence of Hilton and Rivers' growth came early in the 11-on-11 period, as Hilton broke wide open on one of his vintage corner routes, and Rivers delivered the ball right on the money for what would've likely been a gain of 25 or 30 yards. This is the exact play that Hilton and Andrew Luck had gotten so good at to get yards in large chunks; if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
» Rivers got really fired up on the very next play, as the offense perfectly executed a screen pass to running back Nyheim Hines, who got one final block from wide receiver Parris Campbell down the field to break free for what would've been a huge gain.
» This just bears repeating, pretty much every training camp: Hilton is so good at finding and exploiting the soft zones of the defense for easy gains of 20 yards or more. He's a very instinctual route runner, and has his own unique ways of beating man or zone coverage. While he still has that elite speed to break things open over the top, perhaps this is the area of Hilton's game that has evolved the most over the years, and explains why he's seemingly gotten better and better in the red zone, for example; last year, before he got hurt, he was leading the NFL with five red zone touchdown receptions.
» DeForest Buckner Alert: the star Colts defensive tackle made his first major impact play of camp practice so far when he bullied his way through up front and knocked a Rivers pass attempt up in the air; the ball landed right in the waiting hands of newly-acquired safety Tavon Wilson, who likely would've had a clear path to the end zone for a pick-six.