INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis Colts receiver Reggie Wayne doesn’t have to prove himself. He’s done that throughout his 13-year career.
Wayne, 34, is second in team history in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
Still, Wayne doesn’t consider himself a lock to make the final roster when he heads to training camp every year.
Huh?
Receivers like Griff Whalen, Jeremy Kelley, Nathan Palmer, David Reed, Lanear Sampson and Maurice Williams should be the ones worried about making the final 53-man roster.
Not Wayne.
But he is.
“First, let’s make it clear,’’ Wayne said. “I’m always fighting for a spot. Every year they’re going to try to find somebody to replace me. Now it’s up to me to make that a hard decision. So I don’t go out there with the mind frame that I always got a spot sewed up, because that’s when you go out and you loaf and then you got somebody else going out there 100 miles per hour.’’
Wayne didn’t say that just to appease the media group surrounding his locker.
He’s dead serious. He goes hard in practice. And he goes just as hard after practice.
Wayne spends ample time after practice catching passes off the Jugs machine. Some of Wayne’s younger teammates usually stand around enamored, watching him snag one-handed passes and balls that look like they’re going to hit the ground.
“I’m out there trying to set the tone from what Reggie Wayne can do, no matter what the situation is,’’ Wayne said.
The first round of cuts are next week, when 90-player rosters must be trimmed to 75.
