Cornerback Chris Lammons has been cleared to start practicing at Colts training camp.
The Colts announced that Lammons has been activated from the physically unable to perform list on Monday. Lammons had ankle surgery this offseason.
Lammons signed with the Colts last July and served a three-game suspension for violating the Personal Conduct Policy to open the year. He was cut and re-signed to the practice squad once that was over and he played in four games during the regular season.
Lammons had six tackles and a pass defensed in those appearances. He had 26 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in 42 games for the Chiefs and Dolphins before moving on to the Colts.
It wasn’t ideal that Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson missed most of his rookie season with a right shoulder injury, but it might not have hampered his development as much as some may have feared.
While Richardson couldn’t learn on-field lessons, head coach Shane Steichen said Richardson “had that opportunity to sit back and watch.” That allowed Richardson to create a “memory bank full of different looks and things we’re going to run in the season.”
It’s a process that Richardson says makes him more comfortable running the offense than he was at this time last year.
“The communication is definitely, has advanced for us. Last year was more so, ‘OK, follow the read, do this,’” Richardson said, via Michael Marot of the Associated Press. “Now it’s like, ‘OK if the defense does this, now I want you to think about this right here.’ Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s just trying to find ways to tweak our offense and get comfortable with each other. But I definitely feel like there’s been a huge jump from last year to this year.”
If all goes according to plan in Indianapolis, Richardson will have a full season to show just how much his command of the offense has grown.
Andre Johnson was the last of seven inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. He was the first Texan.
The former receiver waited three years to earn a bust in Canton.
“I am truly honored to be your first National Football League Hall of Famer,” Johnson said to the Texans. “This accomplishment is not just about me. It is for us.
“Many, many people have had a role in my career, and today, we are going into the Hall of Fame.”
Johnson spent 12 of his 14 seasons in Houston after the Texans drafted him third overall. He caught 1,012 passes for 13,597 yards and 64 touchdowns with the Texans and played one season with the Colts and one with the Panthers to finish with 1,062 catches, 14,185 yards and 70 touchdowns.
It got him to Canton ahead of Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne, who also were finalists for the Class of 2024.
Texans fans chanted “An-dre!” throughout his speech as the current Texans team sat among the crowd.
“Not in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be in Canton, looking at a bronze statue of me that will be placed in a gallery with some of the greatest people to ever play the game,” Johnson said. “I didn’t even think about it.
“To the other 377 men who wear this gold jacket, I’m humbled, honored and happy as hell to join you in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”
Dwight Freeney was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his second year of eligibility. It likely was a year longer than he likely thought he should wait.
No matter, Freeney saw his bust unveiled Saturday after seven Pro Bowls, three All-Pros, an All-Decade Team, 16 seasons, 47 forced fumbles and 125.5 sacks. His patented spin move still is talked about and copied today.
Colts owner Jim Irsay called Freeney “a twirling dervish” in his presentation of Freeney.
Freeney was the first of seven inductees honored Saturday in a ceremony delayed an hour and 45 minutes by inclement weather, and his speech will be hard to follow.
“I want to thank this great game of football for giving me the opportunity to express myself and my creativity to the world,” Freeney said. “I always felt like I was an artist, and the football field was my canvas, and I am forever grateful for that feeling. One of the things that motivated me was never being completely satisfied with myself and my performance. It’s what drove me to continue to improve my skillset and my mission to perfect my craft and try to dominate every Sunday.
“I realized that in order for me to win battles on the field I had to win the internal battles with myself. I had to keep pushing myself not to be complacent or lazy, to not look for excuses for why something didn’t happen but to make it happen.”
Freeney made an impact as a rookie when he set a team rookie record with 13 sacks and led the NFL with nine forced fumbles and 20 tackles for loss. It was one of seven double-digit sack seasons he had.
He did it at 6 foot 1, 268 pounds.
Freeney played 11 seasons with the Colts and went on to spend time with the Chargers, Cardinals, Falcons, Lions and Seahawks, retiring after the 2017 season.
“From time to time, I think about coming out of retirement for just for one more year,” Freeney said. “Until I realize I can’t even catch my 3-year-old running down the hallway with the TV remote in her hand. It’s crazy. I went from chasing quarterbacks in the league to pulling my hamstring in the hallway chasing my kids.”
Freeney credited his mom for teaching him that “life isn’t a straight road; it’s full of peaks and valleys, and navigating through them is the key.”
“If you’re a young, aspiring, future NFL player, let me say this: Football’s not an easy game, and it can seem like it’s an impossible journey,” Freeney said in ending his speech. “But alwa remember that your hard work and sacrifice are the keys to opening the door to your dreams. People will call you too slow, too short, not tough enough, not strong enough. Use those words as fuel to ignite the internal fire that will motivate you and push to places you never thought were possible.
“All those bumps and bruises that make you want to quit. Fighting through that will make you into a better player and a better person. So I hope that you guys can look at my journey, and what I went through, and know that it’s possible to become who you want to be.”
Colts right tackle Braden Smith missed seven games last year and had offseason knee surgery, but he’s back in action at training camp, and Colts left guard Quenton Nelson says that means the Colts have their best offensive lineman back.
“Braden’s a warrior,” Nelson said, via Colts.com. “When he was out there, he was our best offensive lineman. He’s done a great job and he works his tail off to be at his best for the team and for the guys.”
Smith says he’s getting better and healthier every day of training camp.
“When you’re standing on the sidelines it’s not so fun,” Smith said. “You just want to be part of that group and that camaraderie, just helping your team do all that they can. It’s just a blessing to be able to be back out there.”
In a year when the development of quarterback Anthony Richardson is the Colts’ highest priority, protecting him is of vital importance. The Colts need a healthy offensive line to do that.
The NFL suspended edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad for six games for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancing substances. Muhammad, then a member of the Colts’ practice squad, missed the final five games of last season.
If Muhammad is to make the Cowboys roster, he will still be suspended for Week 1.
Muhammad, 29, signed with the Cowboys earlier this week.
He has not played a regular-season game since 2022 with the Bears.
Muhammad has 157 tackles, 12 sacks, four forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in his career.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous version of this story was posted based on information from the Cowboys’ website that said the NFL had lifted Muhammad’s suspension after he’d served five games last year. The story has been updated to reflect that the aforementioned information was incorrect.
The Colts announced a change to their 90-man roster on Wednesday morning.
They have signed defensive end Levi Bell. Guard Lewis Kidd was waived to make room for Bell in Indianapolis.
Bell spent time with the Ravens and Seahawks after going undrafted out of Texas State last year. He has also been in the UFL with the Michigan Panthers.
The Colts lost Samson Ebukam to a torn Achilles on Saturday and they lost another defensive end when Titus Leo was carted off during Tuesday’s training camp practice.
Kidd played 13 games for the Saints in 2022 and he was on the Colts’ practice squad last year.
The Colts defense suffered a big blow last weekend when edge rusher Samson Ebukam tore his Achilles during practice.
Ebukam recorded a team-high 9.5 sacks during the 2023 season and was set to play a leading role again this year before his injury. If there’s any solace for the Colts after Ebukam’s injury, it may be that they had moved to bolster the position this offseason.
The Colts took Laiatu Latu in the first round of the draft and a quick transition to the professional ranks would help the Colts weather the loss of Ebukam. On Tuesday, Latu said that his veteran teammate’s mentorship will help with that process.
“He’s literally been helping me, been a big brother to me,” Latu said, via James Boyd of TheAthletic.com. “Working on different moves and stuff like that, learning from him, watching film with him. So I’m just trying to carry what he already was providing to the team, and I’m trying to boost that up so it doesn’t feel like we’re missing anybody.”
Latu isn’t the only option in Indianapolis as they also have Kwity Paye, Dayo Odeyingbo, and Tyquan Lewis on the roster. The rookie might have the highest upside, though, and an early splash would be a welcome development for the Colts defense.
Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman had career-highs of 109 catches for 1,152 yards last season, but his average of 10.6 yards per catch is not what he was hoping for. This year, he thinks things will be different.
Pittman said that with Gardner Minshew at quarterback for most of the season, the offense had to play to Minshew’s strengths, which meant more short passes. With Anthony Richardson healthy and poised to start this year, Pittman thinks he’s going to get lots of deep balls thrown his way.
“Anthony’s strength right now is throwing deep passes,” Pittman said on the Colts’ official podcast.
Pittman averaged 12.6 yards per catch as a rookie and 12.3 in Year Two, and he thinks he can be back at that level this year.
“I’m hoping it goes back up to where it was in Year 1 and Year 2,” Pittman said. “That’s where I’m expecting it to go back to. It’s not bad to get those [shorter] passes because any time I’m getting a target, there’s always a chance that I break one and score. Whether it’s a two-yard pass, a 20-yard pass or a 50-yard pass, I’ll take it all.”
If Richardson and Pittman become one of the best deep connections in the NFL, that would justify all the Colts have invested in both of them. That’s what they’re hoping to see.
As football season creeps closer, many who weren’t paying close attention during the offseason are realizing that the new kickoff rule comes with a major change.
The surprise onside kick is dead and gone.
Many are acting as if that’s new. It’s not. It was a clear and obvious part of the rule change that the league adopted in late March.
All onside kicks will be announced in advance, since the onside kick will entail an entirely different formation. Also, onside kicks can’t happen until the fourth quarter. And only the team that is trailing can perform them.
While the pre-2024 efforts to minimize the kickoff had made it harder for onside kicks to be recovered, the possibility of a surprise onside kick lingered. Now, it won’t. It can’t happen, ever.
It’s one of the only rule changes that restrict the options that teams previously had. Twice in the last 30 years (Cowboys-Steelers and Saints-Colts), successful surprise onside kicks happened in the Super Bowl.
Still, the league believes it’s a fair trade. More kickoff returns in exchange for no possibility ever and under any circumstances of a surprise onside kick.
Regardless, those who didn’t realize this consequence to the new kickoff formation in March are figuring it out now. And many apparently don’t like it.
The good news is that the new formation was adopted as a one-year experiment. To continue it in 2025, another 24 votes of the 32 owners will be needed to keep it going.