Getty Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich said the team plans to do something differently this preseason.
The Indianapolis Colts have been slow starters with Frank Reich as head coach since the 2018 season. This training camp, the head coach is doing whatever he can to avoid another below average September.
That includes a plan that will see the team’s starters play more snaps during the preseason.
“Maybe play a little bit more [snaps in the preseason] than we’ve played in the past, not a whole lot more, but maybe a little bit more,” said Reich when asked about changes the team will make to its preseason approach this year.
“Just a little bit more [playing time] for the starters.”
Reich made it clear that it won’t be a lot more playing time — perhaps only an extra series or two for the starters. He also left the door open to some players not playing at all during the preseason. But those will be exceptions.
“We’ll take a look case-by-case,” Reich said. “But for the most part, I want the guys to think everybody is playing. Then Chris [Ballard] and I will meet with the coaches and scouts and we’ll work through it.”
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Getting Off to a Better Start
Under Reich since 2018, the Colts have posted a 5-9 record in September. They have registered a winning record in September once in the last four years, which was a 2-1 mark during 2020.
Last year, the Colts started 0-3, losing all three of their games in the first month of the season.
But things always seem to turn around for Reich’s team in October. Reich owns a 10-5 record in October and has never posted a losing record during that month. Last year, the Colts went 3-2 in October.
Clearly, Reich and his coaching staff need to find a way to get the Colts playing like they usually do in October earlier in the season. One way to do that is to treat August like it’s September.
“We’ve had four seasons, three out of the four have had slow starts,” Reich said to reporters. “So, a little bit [of playing more during the preseason] is to address that.”
New Quarterback, New Defensive System
Of course, there’s two other big reasons why Reich and the Colts are planning to play their starters more during the preseason. The team is undergoing major changes on both sides of the ball.
New starting quarterbacks is not unusual in Indianapolis, but the Colts also have a new defensive coordinator in Gus Bradley.
“New defensive system, new quarterback. And again, I’m just talking incremental – maybe an extra series from what we would normally do,” Reich said. “Nothing is etched in stone.”
Quarterback Matt Ryan is playing for a team other than the Atlanta Falcons for the first time, but last year, he did have to learn a new offensive system under first-year head coach Arthur Smith. The Falcons elected to sit most of their starters the entire 2021 preseason, including Ryan, who didn’t have a snap last August.
That may have contributed to the slow start last season from Ryan and the Falcons. Atlanta began 1-3, losing its first two games by an average of 24.5 points.
Ryan played better in the second half of September, but in the first two games last year, he averaged 5.7 yards per pass and threw 2 touchdowns versus 3 interceptions.
With a 17-game schedule, there’s more time than ever to make up for slow starts to a season in the NFL. But losses in September can still be the difference between earning a playoff spot and hitting the golf course in January.
How Reich prepares the Colts roster to avoid another slow start will be an early-season storyline in Indianapolis.