INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tuesday’s film session only confirmed Frank Reich’s initial suspicions.
Indianapolis‘ offense was largely out of sync Monday night against Baltimore. The defense made some big plays Willie Snead IV Jersey , but still needs to find consistency. And he expects everyone to start cutting down on penalties over the final two preseason games.
He also knows it’s early and all those things can be fixed.
“It was more on the there’s a couple things to clean up,” he said Tuesday as he evaluated Indianapolis’ starting offense. “It was not terrible, but it was not our best day.”
Clearly, fans at Lucas Oil Stadium expected to see a better showing from Andrew Luck than the mediocre one he delivered.
He missed his first three throws, the last ending a scoring chance when the Ravens intercepted Luck inside their 10-yard line. Luck later described the play as a bad decision compounded by an inadvisable throw.
But judging what went right and wrong becomes eminently more difficult given all the missing pieces.
T.Y. Hilton, a four-time Pro Bowl receiver, longtime left tackle Anthony Castonzo and the Colts‘ top two running backs, Marlon Mack and Robert Turbin, sat out with injuries.
Plus, Reich acknowledged the Colts have been intentionally rather vanilla in their play-calling.
Besides, Reich still has some position battles to sort out.
Rookie offensive lineman Braden Smith, initially projected to be an NFL guard, played into the second half at right tackle — the one open spot on the offensive line — and Reich said he liked what he saw out of Smith with the exception of two holding penalties.
The other positive sign: Luck has been sacked three times, taken at least two big hits on his surgically repaired throwing shoulder and remains pain-free.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I landed on my right elbow http://www.packersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-josh-jackson-jersey , sort of reminiscent of how I injured my shoulder a couple years ago,'” he said. “I didn’t feel anything. Didn’t give it a second thought, so I think it’s actually a big deal for me and being able to sort of lose that thought bubble.”
Defensively, there were others signs of progress.
Rookie linebackers Darius Leonard and Zaire Franklin played well for the second straight game and veteran defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway is starting to look like a potential playmaker in the new 4-3 defensive front.
Franklin and Leonard lead the Colts in tackles with 12 and 11 while Ridgeway has now recorded eight tackles, 4½ sacks and six tackles for loss.
Defensive end Tarell Basham, a third-round pick in 2017, also may have helped his cause by blocking a punt and recovering it to set up the Colts’ final score — giving them a chance to rally in the final 2½ minutes.
Phillip Walker connected with Zach Pascal on a 9-yard TD pass, but Walker was stopped short on a 2-point conversion run that would have given Indy a 21-20 lead.
“It was a huge play, a great effort by him,” Reich said before explaining why Basham appeared to be sliding down the depth chart. “The defensive line has been very fluid. It can go hot and cold and a guy can go out and have a couple sacks in a hurry.”
Reich also sounded optimistic about getting some injured players back.
He’s hoping Castonzo (hamstring) returns to practice before the Sept. 9 season opener against Cincinnati and, if all goes well in practice this week, starting safety Malik Hooker could play Saturday against San Francisco.
But Reich also knows he can’t be sure exactly how things will fit together — until the key players return.
“I think it’s like putting a puzzle together,” he said. “I don’t know what the best analogy is, a puzzle, putting the furniture in a room. You have a vision for what it can be, and even though it hasn’t all been in there at one time Authentic Nick Nelson Jersey , you still feel like, ‘Hey, when it all gets in there, it’s going to look good.'”
The return to a classic U.S. Open course brought back the kind of scoring that gave this major its reputation.
Dustin Johnson played some of his best golf and yet the world’s No. 1 player barely beat par in the treacherous wind at Shinnecock Hills. Johnson holed a bunker shot for birdie, kept his mistakes to a minimum and joined Ian Poulter, Scott Piercy and Russell Henley at 1-under 69 for a share of the lead.
Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and a long list of golf’s bests had their hopes crushed in gusts that approached 25 mph that made fairways look more narrow and the shin-high rough difficult to avoid.
In his return to the U.S. Open after a two-year absence, Woods opened a major with a triple bogey for the first time in 15 years. He added back-to-back double bogeys on the back nine and staggered to a 78.
Spieth shot 80, his highest first-round score in a major.
Jason Dufner opened with a 70, and even those at 1-over 71 felt as though they put in a hard day’s work, a group that included Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) – Kelly Shon played her last six holes in 6 under for an 8-under 64 and a share of the lead with So Yeon Ryu in the Meijer LPGA Classic.
Shon had a 7-under 29 on her final nine, the front nine at Blythefield Country Club. The former Princeton star played the five par-5 holes in 5 under with an eagle on No. 8.
The sixth-ranked Ryu birdied four of the par 5s in a bogey-free round.
Anna Nordqvist, Su Oh and Celine Herbin shot 66. Sophia Popov, Caroline Masson and Lee-Anne Pace were at 67 Youth Logan Cooke Jersey , and Lexi Thompson, the 2015 winner, had a 68. Ariya Jutanugarn, making her first start since winning the U.S. Women’s Open, matched defending champion Brooke Henderson, Michelle Wie and Lydia Ko at 69. Annie Park, the ShopRite LPGA Classic winner last week in New Jersey, had a 76.
SPORTS BETTING
OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) – New Jersey’s governor bet that the New Jersey Devils will win the Stanley Cup, while basketball legend Julius Erving bet that Philadelphia’s football team will repeat as champions, placing the wagers the day betting on professional sports became legal in the state.
The action took place at Monmouth Park, a racetrack in Oceanport near the Jersey shore, and at the Borgata, Atlantic City’s first casino to jump into the sports betting market since New Jersey won a Supreme Court case a month ago clearing the way for all 50 states to offer it should they choose.
New Jersey fought for eight years against a federal law that had limited sports betting to four states – Nevada, Delaware, Montana and Oregon.
BASEBALL
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Vince Velasquez took a no-hitter two outs into the seventh inning Authentic Jonathan Toews Jersey , Rhys Hoskins and Nick Williams hit solo homers and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Colorado Rockies 9-3.
Trevor Story lined Velasquez’s 105th pitch to left for an RBI double, ending Velasquez’s bid for the fourth no-hitter in the majors this season. Velasquez retired 20 of the first 21 batters and got a standing ovation as he walked off the mound after the hit.
The Phillies won a series for the first time since taking two of three from Atlanta on May 21-23. They’re 7-12 since.
NEW YORK (AP) – Gleyber Torres hit another three-run homer and Domingo German struck out a career-high 10 for his first major league win as the New York Yankees edged the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in the opener of a four-game series.
Aaron Hicks also homered off Blake Snell as New York beat the blossoming left-hander for the second time this season and ended his four-game winning streak.
German gave up a home run to Matt Duffy on the first pitch of the game but quickly recovered to strike out the next three batters. Making his seventh start in place of injured Jordan Montgomery, the rookie right-hander allowed three runs, five hits and two walks in his 19th career appearance.
Chad Green and Dellin Betances set up Aroldis Chapman for his 19th save in 20 attempts.
NFL
ENCINITAS, Calif. (AP) – Former NFL tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. has been arrested on charges of rape and other sex crimes on the day he was to appear in court on an unrelated burglary charge.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports sheriff’s deputies arrested Winslow at his home in the San Diego suburb of Encinitas.
The 34-year-old Winslow was charged with two counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping with intent to commit rape and single counts of forcible sodomy, oral copulation and indecent exposure. He’s free after posting $50,000 bail.
Winslow was due to appear in court after being charged with burglary following an incident last month at a mobile home park. He now faces arraignment Friday.
HOCKEY
TORONTO (AP) – Andreas Johnsson had two goals and an assist to help the Toronto Marlies win the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup, 6-1 over the Texas Stars in Game 7.
Mason Marchment also scored twice, Carl Grundstrom and Ben Smith added goals, and Garret Sparks made 29 saves for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top farm club.
The Marlies led the AHL with 112 points during the regular season and won 10 straight playoff games before being pushed to the distance by the Stars, Dallas’ top development team.
The last Toronto AHL affiliate to win the Calder Cup was the New Brunswick Hawks in 1982.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) – The Buffalo Sabres stocked up on another Boston University product by acquiring defenseman Brandon Hickey in a trade that sent forward Hudson Fasching to the Arizona Coyotes.
Buffalo also acquired minor-league forward Mike Sislo in the deal.