INDIANAPOLIS – The Colts open their mandatory three-day minicamp Tuesday afternoon at the team’s facility. The highlight for the fans is that the team will hold a night practice at Lucas Oil Stadium on Wednesday that will be open to the public.
Here are few topics heading into the final three days of organized workouts:
Health issues: Two key components of the Colts defensive line -- Art Jones and Henry Anderson -- missed all of the offseason workouts while they continued to rehab from ankle and knee injuries, respectively. The Colts hope, but can’t guarantee, Jones will be ready for the start of training camp next month. Anderson’s return from the severe knee injury suffered in Week 9 last season is still up in the air. Another important player for the Colts -- guard Hugh Thornton -- has been sidelined for most of the workouts. He dealt with elbow and shoulder problems. His absence hurts because the coaching staff can’t get a full grasp on the competition for the starting right guard spot. Thornton, who has had injury issues in the past, has started at right guard for most of his first three seasons in the NFL. Receiver Donte Moncrief, who will be the No. 2 receiver next season, has also been out of all of the early portion of the workouts. He’s spent his time on the sideline catching passes with a boot on his left foot after having surgery earlier in the offseason. Moncrief is expected to be ready for training camp.
Speaking of competition: There are some intriguing position battles that still need to be sorted out.
Here’s a list of positions that are still up in the air:
Right guard
Leading candidates: Thornton, Denzelle Good, Jonotthan Harrison and Joe Reitz
Right tackle
Leading candidates: Reitz, Good and La’Raven Clark
Backup running back
Leading candidates: Tyler Varga, Jordan Todman, Robert Turbin and Trey Williams
Middle linebacker
Leading candidates: Sio Moore, Nate Irving and Josh McNary
Third cornerback
Leading candidates: Darius Butler and D’Joun Smith
These issues may not be resolved until training camp.
Good attendance: Minicamp is mandatory, but the Colts shouldn’t have any problems with players not being there because most took part in the voluntary workouts. That’s not surprising because of the turnover on the coaching staff during this offseason. The three most important coaching changes were with Rob Chudzinski being named the permanent offensive coordinator, which means he’s putting in his own offense. New defensive coordinator Ted Monachino is taking over a defense that has finished in the bottom third in the NFL in three of coach Chuck Pagano’s four seasons. New offensive line coach Joe Philbin is back in his comfort zone trying to improve a unit that has been the weak line in all four of quarterback Andrew Luck’s seasons in the league.
