WESTFIELD — For one brief period Wednesday, the vision for the Colts defense became clear.
Working against Daniel Jones and a No. 1 offense that is playing without its top outside threat in Alec Pierce, Charvarius Ward broke up a hitch on the outside to start the period. Two plays later, Sauce Gardner smothered Josh Downs on the outside to break up another pass.
And that was against a quarterback who played well in his return to 11-on-11 drills on Wednesday. Jones completed 4 of 8 passes in 11-on-11 drills and hit all five passes in 7-on-7 drills while moving around in the pocket better than anybody expected.
With Gardner and Ward on the field together, though, Jones had to do most of his work over the middle of the field, completing two passes to Tyler Warren, one to Downs and a bubble screen to Anthony Gould, in part because the two starting cornerbacks caused so much trouble outside. Another potential completion, a good throw that Ashton Dulin dropped, was also over the middle.
If Gardner and Ward are both healthy and playing like they were in Wednesday’s practice, it will shrink the field for opposing offenses, forcing quarterbacks to attack the middle of the field.
Backup battle
The Colts continue to rotate their options at backup quarterback.
Anthony Richardson took snaps with the No. 2 team for the first two team periods of Wednesday’s practice, and Riley Leonard got the No. 2 snaps for the final two periods of practice.
Richardson got off to a faster starter. The former Colts starter completed 4 of 5 passes in 11-on-11 drills, the only incompletion coming when veteran strong safety Jonathan Owens broke up Richardson’s first throw of the camp, a ball he tried to fit into a receiver over the middle. Richardson completed passes to Drew Ogletree, Will Mallory, Carson Towt and Sahmir Hagans. The last throw, a strike to Hagans on an intermediate crossing route, was a reminder of how good Richardson can look when he throws in rhythm.
Leonard finished 2 of 4, hitting Ulysses Bentley IV and Sean McKeon. He also tossed the first interception of camp, underthrowing a receiver on the sideline and allowing safety Trey Washington to undercut the route for an interception. The play took a little too long to develop, and that was one of the takeaways of Leonard’s first day. The young quarterback needs to get the ball out of his hands faster.
Under the radar
Third-year offensive lineman Dalton Tucker snapped the ball over Leonard’s head during 11-on-11 drills.
Bad snaps happen in the first couple of days of training camp. But bad snaps for Tucker carry a little more weight. Tucker has played every one of his 615 offensive snaps over two NFL seasons at guard, and the Colts are hoping he can make the transition to center in the wake of the franchise losing veteran reserve Danny Pinter in free agency. With fourth-round pick Jalen Farmer adding depth at guard, a move to center could give the Colts roster flexibility.
“The backup center spot is going to be one to watch, and we’ve got some young guys in the loop,” general manager Chris Ballard said. “We’re playing Tucker there and see how he does.”
Learning to snap consistently will be key.
“Repetition is what it really comes down to,” coach Shane Steichen said. “You’ve got to go through it, and there’s going to be some of those bad snaps. That’s what practice is for. We’ve got to work through those and be consistent.”
Position change
A wide receiver lined up wearing No. 34 for the first day of training camp on Wednesday.
An unusual number for a wideout, even in an era when the NFL has relaxed its rules on the numbers each position can wear.
Ben Nikkel’s reason for wearing No. 34 is more interesting than usual. Nikkel was a safety for Indianapolis last season, playing the position he played at Iowa State and with the Commanders in his first NFL season as an undrafted free agent. Before Nikkel transferred to Iowa State, though, he was a wide receiver for three seasons at McPherson College.
Indianapolis used Nikkel in both spots in practices last season.
“He would go both ways, and he made a ton of plays on the scout team,” Steichen said. “So we switched him over.”
Nikkel made a catch in practice on Wednesday.
“Ben’s kind of a jack-of-all-trades,” Steichen said. “He’s a Swiss Army knife.”
Roll call
Pierce (ankle) and rookie middle linebacker CJ Allen (calf) were the only two players who did not practice. Pierce and Allen were both placed on the physically unable to perform list before the start of training camp.
Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who was cleared Monday night to participate in training camp after undergoing surgery to repair a herniated disc in his neck at the end of 2025, did not take part in 11-on-11 drills.
“We’re going to play that by ear,” Steichen said. “We want to get him to Week 1, for sure. We’ll be smart with him. That will be a conversation with myself, the trainers and him, too. It’s his body. We’re working him back in individual drills right now, and we’ll see how that goes as we go through training camp.”
Quick hitters
Jonathan Taylor was the target on Jones’ best throw of the day. Working in 7-on-7 drills, Taylor came free on a wheel route and left the defensive back in his afterburners, allowing Jones to layer in a nice deep ball over his shoulder for the touchdown. … Hunter Wohler got the first snaps at strong safety next to Camryn Bynum to open training camp. … Dulin, Laquon Treadwell, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Eli Pancol all saw time at first-team wide receiver with Pierce out. … Second-year running back DJ Giddens, who is in a battle for the No. 2 job behind Taylor, looked quick to start practice, but he tripped on a running play late and dropped a good throw from Leonard on a swing pass, the kind of inconsistency that kept Giddens off the field in passing situations last year.
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts training camp observations: Sauce Gardner, Charvarius Ward show defense’s ceiling
Reporting by Joel A. Erickson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Joel A. Erickson, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
