ANDERSON, Ind. – A daily review of the hot topics coming out of Indianapolis Colts training camp:
Receiver Reggie Wayne’s return to the field was met with plenty of enthusiasm from the 2,100 fans in attendance at Anderson (Ind.) University. Almost every reception Wayne made was met with an ovation from the fans who have waited since last October to see the future Hall of Famer back on the field. “Another day in the park,” said Wayne, who tore his ACL in Week 7. “This is what I work hard for. This is all the two- and three-a-days and rehabbing and stuff like that. This is what it’s about. Today felt pretty doggone good. They’re bringing the lefty on me, kind of taking me out a little early. I am just doing what they tell me to do. Other than that, felt like old Reggie.” Wayne only took part in half of the practice, as coach Chuck Pagano said they plan to closely monitor some of the players returning from injuries that knocked them out most of last season. “We want to stay the course, even if I don’t agree to it,” Wayne said. “I give Coach Pagano the first round, he won this first round. I wanted to come in and kind of slowly get my way into it. I did more than half of practice. I could have, I wanted to do the whole thing, but he pulled me out and said it was enough. We are just going to continue to build off of that.”
Practice was already in session when starting cornerback Vontae Davis and safety LaRon Landry made their way onto the field. The two did not take part in the first practice for “precautionary reasons.” This isn’t an ideal start for Davis and Landry because neither of them took part in the mandatory three-day minicamp last month due to injuries. Landry, who has yet to talk to the media since last season, was dealing with a soft-tissue problem and Davis didn’t participate because of a groin problem. Darius Butler lined up opposite of Greg Toler at cornerback and Sergio Brown played safety in place of Landry.
Linebacker Bjoern Werner quickly made his presence known as he works to lock down the starting position while veteran Robert Mathis serves his four-game suspension. Werner intercepted an Andrew Luck pass that was tipped by fellow linebacker D’Qwell Jackson. Werner took off running and then rewarded Jackson for tipping the ball by pitching it to him so that he could score the touchdown. Werner then tipped a pass thrown by backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. Defensive lineman Cory Redding caught the tipped pass and scored the touchdown.
With Stanley Havili on the PUP list, Mario Harvey is working with the first-team offense at fullback. Yes, the same Mario Harvey who played linebacker for the Colts the past two seasons. Harvey made the switch to fullback during the offseason because the Colts have plenty of depth at linebacker. “We’re going to have live bullets flying now and like everybody else, we’re going to find out just exactly where he’s at,” Pagano said. “I know where he’s at from a physical standpoint, I know exactly what he can do from a special-teams standpoint, so I’ve got a good idea and a good feeling about him lining up and taking on linebackers and things like that. I don’t think he’s going to shy away from that.”