A year ago, Tom Zbikowski was biding his time during the lockout by beating the crap out of people in the boxing ring. Now he’s focusing on beating the crap out of people on the football field.
New Colts coach Chuck Pagano opened the team’s offseason program by giving his players shirts that say “building the monster,” and Zbikowski told Albert Breer of NFL Network that he interprets that as building a team that can “beat the crap out of people.”
Zbikowski, who followed Pagano from the Ravens to the Colts this offseason, will be part of what Pagano hopes is a very different Colts defense in 2012: A tougher, more physical defense that doesn’t resemble the defense of last year’s 2-14 team.
The arrival of Andrew Luck as the quarterback of the future will be the biggest story coming out of Indianapolis heading into the 2012 season. But upgrading the defense will be every bit as important to reversing the Colts’ fortunes.