It remains to be seen how the acquisition of quarterback Matt Ryan impacts the Colts’ fortunes during the regular season, but they are already seeing one big change during training camp.
Each of the Colts’ first two practice sessions has ended about 10 minutes earlier than scheduled and head coach Frank Reich said on Thursday that Ryan pushing the tempo has been the reason for the early close. Reich said “we’ve never practiced that fast” in the past and Ryan explained why he’s so adamant on having a faster pace than Indianapolis was accustomed to in practice.
“You can’t waste any time,” Ryan said, via the team’s website. “That’s a message for young guys, it can’t wait. It’s every day, it’s every rep we’ve gotta maximize the time we spend out here because before you know it, we’re going to look up, we’re going to be in Houston and we’re going to be keeping score. We got to make sure that we keep that mindset daily, to have ourselves ready to go. That’s one of the keys in training camp, one of the most difficult things is to stay mentally sharp day in and day out when it’s the same thing over and over. But the good teams, the teams that develop this time of year are the ones that can do that.”
The Colts couldn’t finish strong last season and it seems that they’re hoping that a faster start joins their new quarterback as reasons why this year will have a happier ending.