Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen gave his thoughts on the performance of quarterback Daniel Jones on Day 1 of training camp practice.
WESTFIELD, Ind. — The Indianapolis Colts were completely deflated last season when quarterback Daniel Jones sat on the soaked grass at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., with a torn right Achilles, ending his season in Week 14 with four more games to play and playoff hopes circling the drain.
Jones quickly had surgery within a week and began recovery and attacking the necessary rehab.
The Colts were more than comfortable with Jones' prognosis, re-signing him to a two-year, $88 million contract in March to return as the team's leader and get them back to when they were 8-2 and on top of the NFL.
Jones managed to miss very little of the Colts' offseason program in the spring. When minicamp began in June, he practiced with the team and participated in 7-on-7s, but had not yet graduated to full-team 11-on-11s, as the Colts wanted to play things smart.
The team convened for training camp this week at Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Ind., and during the first practice on Wednesday, Jones was right in the middle of the action for 11-on-11s, bringing an end to his limited participation and any doubt of being ready when the team hosts the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1 of the regular season on Sept. 13.
“I thought he looked really good," Colts head coach Shane Steichen said about Jones on Wednesday. "Obviously, his first day back (with) team periods. The way he was throwing the ball, completed a lot of passes, moved well, did some movement stuff with him – handled all that well. So, really pleased with where he was at today.”
Getting Jones back in a full participatory fashion is one thing, but the Colts will need to see more from him throughout the summer.
“Just consistency with coming back from the injury, gaining that strength back," Steichen said about what's next for Jones. "He looked pretty good today, but obviously it's a day-by-day process with that. But he did a (heck) of a job today, so we're just going to continue that growth and look through it.”
While Jones has been sprinting since the spring and simulating quarterback play like dropping back, throwing, and rolling out, some of the biggest things he'll need to continue experiencing are unexpected, sudden movements, and escaping pressure from pass rushers, which will continually test and strengthen the Achilles.
Jones was flushed out of the pocket once near the end of practice, taking off along the right side to race a defender to the sideline.
“Yeah, absolutely. He had one of those today. He got out of the pocket and ran for a few yards there, which was really good to see on his first day back,” Steichen said.
The Colts resume practice on Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. ET for the second day of practice, and will practice again on Friday and Saturday before taking their first break of camp on Sunday.
