Published: August 04, 2008 11:12 pm         

Colts can call for back-up: Sorgi, Gray, Lorenzen perform well in preseason loss

TERRE HAUTE — If the Indianapolis Colts call for back-up at quarterback, Sunday’s 30-16 Hall Of Fame game loss to Washington has them feeling a little better about it.

Quinn Gray and Jared Lorenzen both got quality minutes against the Redskins, with Gray stepping his game up as he completed 10-of-19 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown. He also did not have a turnover. Lorenzen, meanwhile, was 12-of-20 for 93 yards.

“Quinn did some good things. He moves us three times down the field, got out of the pocket and made things happen moving, which he is able to do, kept his poise and ran the two-minute offense well. It was a good first performance for him,” Dungy said.

He also said that Gray’s mobility and ability to make things happen on the run was a bright spot.

“I thought that Quinn did an exceptional job of moving the team, of making plays that we needed to keep drives going, of making some big throws coming out of the pocket. So that was good to see,” the Colts coach said.

“Jared was good. They blitzed him a little bit more. We didn’t have the same [pass] protection that maybe the first two guys had. But I thought Jim Sorgi and Quinn were exceptional.”

• Reviews good for primary backup — Sorgi got the start with veteran Peyton Manning recovering from surgery to remove an infected bursa sac in his left knee. The fifth-year signal caller had one series of work, completing seven-of-10 passes for 66 yards and directing the Colts’ offense to an opening-drive field goal by Adam Vinatieri.

“[Sorgi] ran the team well. We had very good protection for him. He was accurate. He threw to the right guys, picked up some third downs. Had a 15-play drive. Just had one bad throw to [wide receiver] Reggie [Wayne] in the red zone. But other than that, I thought he played really well.”

• Looking ahead — It’s back to basic football this week for the Colts.

“We’ll really progress again with our fundamental football. We’ve got a short week now getting ready for Carolina. But they’re another team that will be good to play. They’re going to be a very physical run team on offense and a basic 4-3 team on defense,” Dungy said.

“So we’ll be able to go down and get another good look at our young guys on the road again and see how they perform in a hostile environment. But it’s going to be a good week for us and we’ll build on [the loss to Washington].”

The next two weeks, with both the Panthers and Atlanta Falcons coming up on the road, should give the Indianapolis coaching a good idea of what several of the team’s younger players have to offer.

“I think it will work out very well for us. We had a basic week [last] week. I think we’ll have another basic week [this] week and then we’ll get to Atlanta, which they’re defense is going to be very, very similar to Jacksonville. They’ve got an ex-Jacksonville [defensive] coach there [Mike Smith], so that will help us getting ready to go,” the Colts coach said.

“And then you’ve got Buffalo and we finish with Cincinnati. So I think we’ll see a lot of different styles that will really get us ready for the regular season.”

• Injury report — The Colts return to the practice field today for a couple of relatively short workouts at Rose-Hulman (11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.), but things will heat up over the next couple of days.

The Colts will only have a handful of practices heading into Saturday night’s trip to Carolina. Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy hopes to get a few of his injured players back as soon as possible.

Middle linebacker Gary Brackett (groin) and second-year strong-side linebacker Clint Session (calf) may be able to return to practice after being hurt in last Wednesday night’s workout at Cook Stadium. Wide receiver Marvin Harrison (knee) should also be back to continue his rehabilitation process.

The news isn’t as good for cornerback Michael Coe (knee) and rookie linebacker Philip Wheeler (knee), both of who will be forced to undergo surgery. Wheeler could be back in a couple of weeks while Coe’s return is expected to be a bit longer.

Running backs Joseph Addai (head) and Chad Simpson (ankle) were the only injuries coming out of the Washington game, but neither were considered to be problematical. Addai was hurt on the Colts’ first offensive series but could have returned later if needed. Simpson, meanwhile, rolled his ankle on the team’s final possession of the fourth quarter.

• Looking back — Injuries aside, Dungy liked what he saw from his team the first time in a live game situation.

“Well, other than the final score, it was pretty encouraging,” the Colts coach said late Sunday night. “We wanted to see some things, and we did, out of a lot of guys. Some good individual performances from some young guys that we’ll be counting on. The only thing that was disappointing is we made a couple of mistakes that can cost you a game. You know, lining up offside on a third down. Having a holding penalty on a punt return [that cornerback T.J. Rushing returned for an apparent touchdown]. An interception return for a touchdown. So those three plays kinda caused the score to be not what we wanted.

“But some really, really good things [did occur]. Our young running backs, Gijon Robinson at tight end, Pierre Garcon and Roy Hall at the receiver spots. [Rookie defensive end] Marcus Howard. Some really, really good individual performances by our young guys.”