Colts Veterans Return for Off-Season Conditioning Program
They gathered again Monday at the Colts’ complex, smiling, shaking hands and exchanging hugs.
But mostly, they worked.
Because when the Colts gathered on Monday morning, they did so for the first day of the 2007 off-season conditioning program, which made it unofficially the first day of the upcoming season.
And while handshakes and hugs were nice, and while their gathering was their first as defending Super Bowl champions, the past was not paramount on Monday.
Instead, the focus was on the future.
“That was last year,” veteran right tackle Ryan Diem said as many Colts players reported for the first of 14 weeks of voluntary workouts.
“I think you’ll hear that from a lot of guys. It’s a new season, new team. You’ve got some new faces that are going to be around here in a few weeks.
“It’s just time to get back to work and prepare ourselves for the ’07 season.”
Monday’s starting date, April 16, was later than the Colts normally begin their off-season program, with Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy delaying the start because of last season’s postseason run.
“It’s fun coming back,” veteran defensive tackle Dan Klecko said. “It’s fun to see everyone and see guys you haven’t seen for a couple of months. You walk in and everybody’s hugging each other, so it’s nice.”
Typically, the Colts have started the off-season program in March, but in recent seasons – with the Colts making the playoffs each of the past five seasons – the conditioning period generally has begun a few weeks later.
The Colts played four extra games last season and practiced five more weeks than teams that didn’t make the playoffs. A postseason team each of the past five seasons, the Colts have practiced 13 extra weeks during that span.
That’s a big reason for the added off-season time off, Dungy said, but players on Monday mostly said they were ready to return.
“I’m ready to start,” Colts third-year cornerback Kelvin Hayden said. “Everybody’s going to be hunting for us. That’s the great thing. Week in and week out, you have to bring your ‘A Game,’ because everybody’s going to be bring their ‘A Game’ for us.
“You’ve got to wait a couple of months, but I’m ready to see what happens.”
Not that the break seemed particularly long to all Colts players.
As of Monday, 10 weeks had passed since the Victory Celebration the day after the Colts’ 29-17 victory in Super Bowl XLI.
“The off-season was so quick – it went by that fast,” Colts second-year running back Joseph Addai said, snapping his fingers. “I understand it’s a job, so I’m not really mad about it. I don’t look at it like I didn’t have any time. I still have a lot of time.”
Dungy long has believed that NFL players make their biggest jump in performance level from Year One to Year Two, and that the reason is a chance to be involved year-round in conditioning and preparation.
He said last week that made the coming weeks important for players such as cornerback Tim Jennings, cornerback T.J. Rushing, and even Addai, who led all NFL rookies in rushing last season with 1,081 yards and seven touchdowns.
“I want to start getting ready and start looking forward to the new season,” Addai said. “To me, it’s going to be everybody looking at me now, because I had a decent season last year. I’ve got to come in and just get on the same page with everybody.
“I’m still a young player, but I can still get help from the older guys. Like (Colts quarterback) Peyton (Manning), he’s still working out. It’s just trying to understand what he’s thinking in a game, or in practice – how his mind’s thinking or how his mind-frame is.”
The conditioning program is a key part of an extensive off-season.
Under NFL rules, teams may hold a voluntary off-season conditioning program, and also hold 14 on-field training activity days – or OTAs. The Colts’ OTAs are scheduled to begin in late May after the team’s lone mandatory mini-camp, which is scheduled for May 18-20.
The NFL Draft will be held April 28-29, and a rookie mini-camp is scheduled for the following weekend, May 4-6.
While on-field coaching sessions – sessions in which position groups may go on the field as groups, but not in multiple groups – are typically a part of the conditioning program, Dungy said fewer such sessions likely will be held this season.
But the focus on off-season conditioning will remain, and players said it will remain critical to on-field success.
“It’s paramount,” Diem said. “This is where you get strong. This is where you get in shape. This is what gets you through the long season like we had last year. That was key – that we were in pretty good shape.
“We maintained ourselves throughout the year and we were ready to go the distance. There are a lot of people who just break down. There are 24 weeks including preseason. It’s a long year.”
Said Hayden, “Everybody’s upbeat. Everybody’s happy to see each other. That’s always crazy. You haven’t seen these guys in a while. Most of these guys haven’t seen each other since the parade. It’s great to see guys, ask how their off-season went and stuff like that. At the same time, everybody knows everybody’s back now, so it means it’s time to go back to work.
“It’s great that everybody’s back and everybody knows we’re on a mission to repeat. We’re ready to go.”
BACK WHERE HE WANTS TO BE: Klecko said he’s not only happy to be back with the Colts, he’s happy to be back in a familiar number.
After wearing No. 61 last season, Klecko this season will wear No. 90.
That number was worn the last four seasons by defensive tackle Montae Reagor, a starter from 2002-2006 who recently signed with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Klecko, who re-signed with the Colts after becoming an unrestricted free agent in the off-season, wore No. 90 during his first three NFL seasons with the New England Patriots.
“It’s nice to be back in the 90s, and to have my number back, that is nice,” Klecko said.
Klecko, who played as a reserve defensive tackle and part-time fullback last season, said being in the off-season program may be a benefit.
He joined the Colts last season just before the first game of the regular season, shortly after his release from New England.
“It’s something I missed last year,” Klecko said. “I think that hurt me a little bit, coming in and kind of getting my feet wet the first week of the season. That’s tough. It really is. I had seen other guys go through it and I finally went through it to see how tough it really is.
“This will be nice to kind of ease into it and get to see everybody the whole year. It will be a lot better.”
FAMILIAR FACE: When guard Rick DeMulling re-signed with the Colts several weeks ago, few Colts players were happier than Diem.
The Colts drafted both players in 2001, and they were starters on the line from 2002-2004. They are also best friends.
DeMulling signed with the Detroit Lions as an unrestricted free agent in 2004, but re-signed with the Colts early this month.
“It’s been great,” Diem said. “He’s a great friend of mine. It was a little lonely around here while he was gone, but it has been fun to have him back already. He fell right back into place, like he was never gone. It’s cool.
“He’ll be a good asset to our offensive line. He’s given us some depth.”
Diem said he and the rest of the line began working out at the Colts’ complex a few weeks ago.
“We’ve had a lot of the linemen early – (guard Ryan) Lilja, (center) Jeff (Saturday), (left tackle) Tarik (Glenn), myself – we’ve been around a few weeks,” Diem said.
Added Diem, laughing, “It’s good to see other faces (from other positions) around. You get sick of those guys.”
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