WESTFIELD — Daniel Jones does not talk like a player coming off a torn right Achilles tendon.
Or move like one. Jones is moving in the pocket, scrambling to the sideline, finding a moment of levity by kicking field goals with his surgically-repaired right leg.
The Colts are typically cautious at this time of year, taking the helmet away from a player dealing with an injury of almost any kind. Indianapolis has wide receiver Alec Pierce on the PUP list and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner on a strict, unyielding pitch count.
But Indianapolis hasn’t limited Jones’ snaps at all. The Colts’ starting quarterback has taken every snap with the first-team offense.
A story that looked like it would dominate training-camp coverage at Grand Park has instead become an afterthought.
“Felt good through the whole camp so far,” Jones said. “I knew I would. I think you try to push yourself in rehab, and what you’re doing in preparation for camp, kind of knowing what to expect. I’ve felt really good, and I’ll continue to stay on the recovery part of it, make sure I’m available and out here every day.”
Jones keeps pointing to his rehab, reminding everybody that he tailored his work this offseason to the movements he’d have to make on the football field.
For example, taking snaps under center might seem like a formality, but it puts far more stress on the Achilles tendon than the shotgun, forcing Jones to twist and plant and push off his Achilles tendon to get the ball into the hands of Jonathan Taylor, to carry out a play-action fake, to turn and roll to the other side on a bootleg. When he wasn’t able to do those movements last season, limited by a fractured fibula in his left leg, the Colts offense suffered.
“I think that was something I tried to focus on through the rehab process, is pushing off that foot when I’m under center and making sure you’re not disrupting timing with running backs or with play-action game, or any of that stuff,” Jones said. “As early as probably four months ago. … a lot of the (physical therapy) people, (Erin Barill) and them had me working on stuff to push off from center.”
The same principle applies to the unscripted movement a quarterback must make in the pocket, deftly stepping to the side to avoid the rush or find a throwing lane, sometimes taking off to pick up yardage when everybody else is covered.
“Those are all things I’ve done a lot in a rehab setting, but yeah, doing them in practice, in a game situation where you’re reacting, stepping up and scrambling is good,” Jones said. “Good to get reps doing that and kind of feel that in a more game-like situation.”
The end result of all that work is that Jones has gone from the Colts’ biggest offseason question to one of the team’s most dependable pieces in training camp.
“He’s been doing a great job,” Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen said Monday. “He’s progressing every day, making plays, getting us in and out of the right play, which is huge. Completing passes, moving the offense down the field, making good decisions.”
Note what’s missing from Steichen’s answer.
He didn’t mention Jones’ Achilles recovery at all. When Steichen was asked how Jones looked the first day of pads, the Colts head coach talked about the way Jones is playing, rather than the way he’s recovering. As crazy as it might seem, considering that Jones tore his Achilles roughly eight months ago, the injury has already become an afterthought.
“Daniel’s been great,” slot receiver Josh Downs said. “He’s been looking like he didn’t have an injury a couple months ago, so I’d say he’s leading us, he’s moving around good and he’s throwing the ball on the money.”
The Colts still have plenty of questions to answer before the season opener against Baltimore.
Pierce hasn’t played yet, and Indianapolis looks painfully thin at wide receiver without him on the field. The pass rush is more potential than production at this point. Indianapolis is holding open competitions through the midde of the defense, trying to figure out who will fill both linebacker spots, the strong safety role and close the hole in the middle of the defense that teams repeatedly exploited last season. Indianapolis must find answers to all of those questions.
But Jones isn’t one of those questions, at least until further notice.
The Colts aren’t even thinking about their quarterback that way anymore.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Daniel Jones’ recovery has turned the Colts’ biggest question into an afterthought
Reporting by Joel A. Erickson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Joel A. Erickson, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
