Following the Colts’ second training camp practice on Saturday, defensive coordinator Gus Bradley spoke with the media.
In case you missed it, here are the highlights from that conversation. To watch the full interview, click here.
– Bradley said the defense’s performance on Day 1 of training camp in the red zone period was okay, but he thought they were better on Saturday, and he wants to continue seeing that upward trajectory.
– The defensive front dominated the day, here is what Bradley had to say about their play: “Well, that’s where it starts, right? Is with your defensive line, especially with who we have up front. We like our veteran presence, the leadership there, so we’re counting on them to set the tone for the whole defense because we have a saying, it starts up front, and really with us that’s true.”
– When asked how the defensive front can improve this season, Bradley mentions the mindset needed against play-action, which they saw more of at the end of last season, “converting run to pass.” Bradley also adds the need to generate consistent pressure in the fourth quarter and on third downs.
– In regards to Laiatu Latu, Bradley says their seeing the skill set that they saw from him in college with his speed and how he’s using his pass rush moves. He adds that when the pads come on, and he doesn’t know it’s a pass, can he convert run to pass? Can his moves and skill set transfer over in those situations, Bradley adds.
– Bradley says the most impressive thing about Latu after two days is that even with a ton of information being thrown at him, he continues to play fast. He’s not over thinking and it’s not affecting his speed.
– Bradley on Dallis Flowers: It’s been “pretty impressive” how Flowers has come back from his Achilles injury, but “we still see coming out of breaks maybe it’s not quite there.” However, now in training camp, Bradley can see the work Flowers put in over the summer and his foot speed coming out of the breaks looks quite good.
– What is Bradley looking for at the competitions in the secondary? Trust. Players on the back-end have to have the trust of the players in front of them. Do they have the skill set to get the job done and make some plays?
– Ronnie Harrison at free safety: “For us when Ronnie gets in there, it feels like something good happens,” so they wanted to give him an opportunity at a bigger role.
– Bradley on rookie LB Jaylon Carlies: “So in our scheme, what we can’t coach up is speed or change of direction, things like that. So you’ve seen us evolve to where a little bit like we’re willing to go, hey, let’s take a safety and maybe he hasn’t had a lot of opportunity to use his hands and strike and shed, but we feel like, alright, we can coach that part up. That’s JC. He’s a safety that’s playing linebacker, but he’s got really good length and he has that mindset, he just has to develop the skill set.