WESTFIELD — The Colts offense turned in arguably its worst day of training camp on the team’s final day at Grand Park, Thursday’s joint practice against the Packers.
Indianapolis fumbled twice, threw three interceptions, committed at least six penalties and gave up roughly nine “sacks” against Green Bay’s defense, a disappointing performance in front of a packed crowd.
The only real silver lining was a touchdown in a two-minute drill for the starting offense at the end of practice.
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“Overall, we probably weren’t as sharp as we’ve been,” quarterback Daniel Jones said. “A lot of things we can clean up offensively, but I think that’s going to happen. In a joint practice, the speed and intensity’s ramped up a little bit. You’re going against different looks you haven’t seen before. It wasn’t as sharp as we’re used to being at this point of camp.”
Green Bay’s defensive line set the tone from the start by dominating the line of scrimmage.
Indianapolis found little room on eight runs in the first 11-on-11 period of practice, the only bright spot coming on a play Jonathan Taylor bounced to the outside. Anthony Richardson completed three passes with the starting unit, but all three were short, hitting Taylor, D.J. Giddens and Michael Pittman Jr.
Then the Packers pass rush firmly took control. With Jones under center for the No. 1 unit in the next 11-on-11 period, Indianapolis right tackle Braden Smith gave up a likely “sack” to Rashan Gary, leading to one incompletion, and that was followed by back-to-back sacks for Lukas Van Ness bending the edge around left tackle Bernhard Raimann and Quay Walker blitzing up the middle, nullifying Jones completions to Josh Downs and Pittman.
A little rattled, Jones missed badly on his next throw to Tyler Warren before finishing with a completion to Downs on an out route.
Richardson didn’t fare any better with the No. 2 unit. A completion to Laquon Treadwell on his first play of the period was marred by a sack for Colby Wooden, and after a short run by Tyler Goodson, Indianapolis gave up a sack, two incompletions and ended the series with a scramble by Richardson, forced by defensive lineman Warren Brinson.
“There was some good, I don’t think it was all bad,” Steichen said. “Every time you go back and watch the tape, it’s probably not as bad as you think when you’re in the moment.”
Colts nearly come up empty in red zone
Jones and Richardson split chances evenly in the red zone.
Neither player had much success. Working with the starters, Jones completed his only throw of the session on a fantastic catch by Adonai Mitchell going out of bounds, but he was unable to turn the corner on Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper on a run.
Goodson did end up finishing that portion with a short touchdown run.
Richardson’s shot with the No. 2 offense was a disaster. Backup center Mose Vavau snapped the first ball over Richardson’s head, Treadwell dropped a catchable pass on the second play, Richardson failed to turn the corner on two Packers defensive backs and then missed a wide-open Giddens badly on a route to the end zone.
One of Richardson’s best passes of the day ended up going for naught when he got his red-zone chance with the starters. Richardson lofted a perfect throw to the corner of the end zone, but Pittman dropped a diving catch.
Richardson bounced back with completions to Mitchell on an out, Taylor on a flare and Mitchell for a touchdown, but the play almost certainly would have been a sack for Green Bay defensive lineman Karl Brooks, who ran behind Richardson before the throw.
Working with the twos, Jones completed his first three throws, two to Ashton Dulin and one to tight end Will Mallory, but all three were short completions, prompting Packers defensive backs in the end zone to say, “Throw it deep, DJ,” a couple of times. A run by Goodson was nullified by a false start, and then Jones threw incomplete on a play where he would have likely been sacked by Packers rookie Barryn Sorrell.
If the Pittman score was ultimately ruled a sack, the Colts scored just one touchdown in 22 red-zone plays.
Adonai Mitchell mistakes
Mitchell bounced back from a rough opening week of training camp to make a bunch of highlight plays the next two.
But he had back-to-back mishaps in the next period while working with the Colts’ starters on offense. After a drop by Taylor and a short out route to Downs, Jones made a nice read and a good delivery on a 20-plus-yard throw to Mitchell over the middle, but the second-year wide receiver bobbled the catch, deflecting it into the arms of Packers nickel Keisean Nixon for an interception.
Jones went right back to Mitchell on a slant, but he had the ball ripped out of his arms for a fumble after making the grab.
“Obviously, some plays he’d probably want to have back there,” Steichen said. “We’ve got to hang onto the football. He’s doing some good things, he’s separating, but overall, some things to clean up.
A sack by Kingsley Enagbare on a completion to Pittman, a tackle-for-loss for Brenton Cox Jr. on Taylor and a completion to Downs ended an extensive streak for Jones with the starters.
Rough period for Anthony Richardson
Working with the No. 2 unit, Richardson went through one of his worst practice periods of training camp.
Richardson held the ball far too long in the pocket on the first play — so long that it looked like he might have taken a sack — before firing a crosser to Anthony Gould that Packers rookie Johnathan Baldwin picked off.
The pressure kept coming. Richardson was forced to scramble on his next two dropbacks, plays where it was unclear if he would have been sacked and also back-to-back plays where the Colts were flagged for illegal formation.
“I think more than anything, it was penalties,” Steichen said. “Felt like every time I looked up we were in the backfield or illegal formation, so we’ve got to get that cleaned up. … That’s hidden yardage, you don’t want to have that happen in a game.”
Richardson couldn’t get any momentum back.
He underthrew an open Gould badly on a ball that skipped twice, missed another throw, took a sack and then fired back-to-back incompletions over the head of receivers to end the period.
Some good, some bad in Colts two-minute
Richardson, who finished 10 of 22 on the day in IndyStar’s unofficial count, gave the offense its only highlight in the final drill of the day, a two-minute drill to end practice.
Working with the starters, he hit Gould for big yardage over the middle, ripped off another chunk with a slant to Pittman and then got the ball ahead of rookie tight end Tyler Warren, who made a gorgeous catch to get the Colts into field-goal range.
A pass interference on the next play put the Colts at the 1-yard line, and after two overthrown Richardson incompletions in the end zone, Taylor banged his way in for the touchdown.
Jones got off to a good start by hitting Mallory, Treadwell and Dulin in quick succession, but he held the ball too long on his next throw, found himself under pressure for a “sack” and fired a pass that was picked off by Isaiah Simmons, ending his day at 14 of 18 with two interceptions.
Colts QB camp counter
Richardson: 109 of 184, 10 TDs, 4 INTs in 11-on-11; 28 of 44, 3 TD, INT, in 7-on-7
Jones: 139 of 202, 12 TDs, 3 INTS in 11-on-11; 29 of 45, 4 TD, 3 INTs in 7-on-7
Injury report
Downs left practice after suffering a hamstring injury, and defensive end Samson Ebukam was taken out of practice with a back injury, adding two more key players to a long list of injuries.
Wide receiver Alec Pierce (groin), cornerback Kenny Moore II (knee), cornerback Jaylon Jones (hamstring), cornerback JuJu Brents (hamstring), linebacker Jaylon Carlies (ankle), center Danny Pinter (undisclosed), running back Khalil Herbert (leg) and tight end Sean McKeon (undisclosed) did not practice.
Quick hitters
Spencer Shrader, the front-runner at kicker, missed his first field goal of the day from 33 yards, but he bounced back with makes of 39, 45 and a whopping 64 yards, the longest field goal he’s made in training camp. Undrafted rookie Maddux Trujillo made all four of his kicks, hitting from 27 yards, 31 yards, 45 yards and then burying a 64-yard attempt to match Shrader. … Indianapolis and Green Bay had only a few minor scuffles. Pittman briefly exchanged words with Packers defensive backs Javon Bullard and Kamal Hadden; undrafted Colts safety Ladarius Tennison briefly took a shove from Nixon. … Gould and Coleman Owen returned punts.
Nate Atkins and Joel A. Erickson cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts camp observations: Offense sloppy, overmatched in joint practice with Packers