Name: It’s the Indianapolis Colts vs. the New York Colts on Sunday
Brand: indystar.com
SKU: indystar-com-80
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

It’s the Indianapolis Colts vs. the New York Colts on Sunday

preview

Indianapolis StarView CommentsINDIANAPOLIS — The team coming to play the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday will&nbsp;have more experience in Colts uniforms than the entire Colts starting defense.Seriously.&nbsp;When the Jets come to Indianapolis this week, they will do so with a roster that includes a dozen ex-Colts: running back Frank Gore, cornerbacks Nate Hariston, Quincy Wilson, Pierre Desir and Arthur Maulet (injured reserve), safety Matthias Farley, linebacker Tarell Basham, defensive lineman Henry Anderson, wide receiver Donte Moncrief (practice squad/injured), tight end Ross Travis (practice squad), offensive lineman Josh Andrews and long-snapper Thomas Hennessy.&nbsp;Together, the 12 of them played 307 games for the Colts.&nbsp;The Colts starting defense this Sunday (let's count three linebackers and a nickel to make even at 12)&nbsp;-- have played only 240 games in Colts uniforms.&nbsp;So, even if you replaced Julian Blackmon (one game) and T.J. Carrie (two games) with the recently injured Malik Hooker (36 games) and ill Rock Ya-Sin (16 games), the Jets would still have more experience in Colts uniforms.&nbsp;In his decades spent around the game, Colts coach Frank Reich has never seen anything quite like what his team is about to face Sunday.“I can honestly say I’ve never had this experience,” Reich said Wednesday. “I mean it’s amazing. … I don’t know every one of those guys, but I know most of them and they were good players for us and they’re good players for the Jets. We knew when some of these guys departed they would still be playing, being productive and playing good football.”&nbsp;Given the familiarity the Jets have the Colts,&nbsp;Reich said the Colts&nbsp;might make minor tweaks to "keep them off balance."While the situation Sunday will&nbsp;certainly be strange and probably unprecedented, it’s not totally inexplicable. Jets’ assistant general manager Rex Hogan is deeply familiar with the Colts organization having been part of it from 2017-18. General manager Chris Ballard hired Hogan as his director of college scouting when he arrived in Indianapolis in 2017. Hogan left for the Jets ahead of the 2019 season, but all 12 of the ex-Colts -- and for the record, that’s three Ballard draft picks (Hariston, Wilson, Basham), three waiver claims (Desir, Maulet, Travis), one free agent signee (Andrews), one undrafted free agent (Hennessy) and four holdovers from the previous regime (Gore, Moncrief, Anderson, Farley) --&nbsp;on the current Jets roster spent at least some time in Indianapolis when Hogan was here.&nbsp;"Chris does a phenomenal job," Jets coach Adam Gase said when asked about all of the ex-Colts on his roster. "The way that they’ve built it and been able to just keep doing a great job drafting, bringing in the right guys (catches your attention). That tells you something when guys go other places and are still in the league.”Of course, not all of these players are in New York directly because of Hogan’s relationship to Ballard and the&nbsp;Colts.&nbsp;Gore, for instance, has a long relationship with&nbsp; Gase. Gore played for Gase in San Francisco (2008) and Miami (2018) before meeting up again with him in New York this season.&nbsp;&nbsp;“It’s amazing that at his age of what he is doing and how he looks when he’s doing it,” Gase said. “He had some really good runs last week (21 carries, 63 yards). We gave him the ball quite a bit, especially in that first half. He did a good job with the runs he had."For Gore, Sunday probably can’t be tabbed a revenge game as it so often is for players snubbed by their former teams. But there will be at least a couple of ex-Colts with vengeance on their minds. And they will make up a good chunk of the Jets secondary.Though he was benched for poor performance in the season opener, Desir looks like he’ll play plenty this Sunday with the Jets dealing with a bevy of injuries.&nbsp;Desir, the Colts’ nominee for Walter Peyton Man of the Year in 2019, . Though he struggled in 2019, he battled injuries and had signed a three-year extension the offseason before.&nbsp;Desir told Jets reporters on Wednesday he’ll have to be careful not to let his emotions get the best of him this Sunday.&nbsp;&nbsp;“It’s definitely something in the back of my mind," Desir said of facing the team that cut him. "I have to make sure I don't let those emotions overcome what I need to do."Wilson, too, will have something to prove from the Jets secondary. The 2017 second-round pick hasn’t been shy about expressing how happy he was when the Colts traded him during the NFL Draft for a sixth-round pick.&nbsp;While Wilson was always professional in the Colts locker room,&nbsp;he wasn't happy about being inactive for much of last season.&nbsp;”When I got traded, it was a good day — probably one of the best days of my life,” &nbsp; ”A lot of things went wrong in Indy. But I’m just happy for this new opportunity, this new situation that I’m in that’s way better.”Pressed on why Indianapolis was not a good situation, Wilson seemed to take a veiled shot at defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and his scheme. He said that the&nbsp;Jets “coach you to make plays and not to cover grass. That’s how I’ve always been taught, to go get the ball. That’s what it is here. And that fits me.”Wilson didn’t play defense in the opener for the Jets but took 25 snaps against the Bills in Week 2. Given their injuries, Wilson likely will play a bigger role this week, which should give him ample opportunity to show the Colts what they're missing.&nbsp;Gase, however, doesn't think his team needs any extra motivation. After a rough 0-2 start, they just need a win.&nbsp;The Colts know they'll be a facing a desperate team Sunday.&nbsp;And given how familiar they are with so much of the Jets personnel, don't expect them to underestimate the challenge that awaits.&nbsp;Follow IndyStar Colts Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter: @jimayello.&nbsp; View Comments

Indianapolis StarView CommentsINDIANAPOLIS — The team coming to play the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday will&nbsp;have more experience in Colts uniforms than the entire Colts starting defense.Seriously.&nbsp;When the Jets come to Indianapolis this week, they will do so with a roster that includes a dozen ex-Colts: running back Frank Gore, cornerbacks Nate Hariston, Quincy Wilson, Pierre Desir and Arthur Maulet (injured reserve), safety Matthias Farley, linebacker Tarell Basham, defensive lineman Henry Anderson, wide receiver Donte Moncrief (practice squad/injured), tight end Ross Travis...

It’s the Indianapolis Colts vs. the New York Colts on Sunday

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS