Getty Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich considers the joint practices against the Detroit Lions a "tremendous opportunity" for at least one rookie.
Every training camp and preseason rep is important for all young players. The more practice a player can get, the more experienced and developed he will be for the regular season and the rest of his career.
But Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich called the joint practices the team plans to hold on August 17 and 18 with the Detroit Lions a “tremendous opportunity” for one rookie in particular — offensive tackle Bernhard Raimann.
“It’s going to be a tremendous opportunity for our whole team,” Reich said. “But for Bernhard [Raimann], it will be a great opportunity to continue to gain confidence. That’s true for all the players but the question specifically is about him.
“You want to build your confidence in practice through – you’re getting those one-on-one periods, you’re getting team periods, and you want to build off of the successes that you have.”
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Leading the Colts in Snaps
It will be interesting to see how many snaps Raimann receives versus the Lions in the joint practices. There’s also potentially a lot of snaps for Raimann in the preseason matchup against the Lions on August 20.
Reich told the media on August 13 that he plans to not play any starters during the official preseason game. Instead, the team will approach the joint practices with a very serious tone.
Raimann was listed as Indianapolis’ backup left tackle on the first depth chart on August 9. Without the starters in the next preseason game, he could potentially play a lot, and by the sounds of it, still play quite a bit in the joint practices.
That won’t be a new development. Raimann led the Colts with 48 snaps in Week 1 of the preseason against the Buffalo Bills. No other Colts player had more than 43 snaps.
Reich said it was intentional to get Raimann a lot of repetitions versus the Bills.
“He got great work out of it. He did a nice job,” Reich said. “We got beat on a couple that we can learn from on a couple of the play-actions that we had that we can just work on how we can get better there technique wise and fundamental wise.
“There were a lot of reps in that game where he looked really good.”
Reich also explained that the preseason is about being “able to experiment with things.” The more live game action Raimann receives in August, the more chances he will have to develop the techniques he’s learning in practice.
“The more reps we can get the better,” Reich said. “The more quality reps, and this week will provide a lot of quality reps.”
Left Tackle Training Camp Battle
Raimann came into training camp expecting to compete with Matt Pryor for the starting left tackle role. Although Colts insider Joel A. Erickson reported Pryor took a 1-on-1 snap at right tackle on August 16 for the first time, Pryor has spent a vast majority of his time this August at left tackle with the first-team offense.
That’s left Raimann in the backup role at left tackle.
But that doesn’t mean things can’t still tip in Raimann’s favor. Even if he doesn’t earn the starting job during the joint practices or the game against the Lions, the repetitions he will receive could be invaluable to him becoming the team’s starting left tackle at some point in the near future.
“I’m really looking forward to it [the joint practices],” Raimann said. “I’ve never practiced against another team. I think it’s going to be a huge experience — much more game-like.”