Colts add defensive depth

By Tom James
Tribune-Star Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS September 01, 2008 09:25 pm

— The 2008 National Football League regular season has yet to officially kick off, but the Indianapolis Colts’ active roster is already being retooled.
Two days after the Colts trimmed their preseason roster to the NFL-mandated limit of 53 players, tweaks have continued to occur. Indianapolis claimed former Florida State middle linebacker Buster Davis and ex-Kent State defensive tackle Daniel Muir on Monday.
Davis was a third-round draft choice by Arizona in 2007 but was cut after training camp.
Davis spent most of last season on the Detroit Lions’ practice squad. Muir, meanwhile, is a 6-foot-2, 318-pound defensive lineman who spent last season with the Green Bay Packers.
To make room on the active roster, the Colts waived second-year outside linebacker Ramon Guzman and rookie safety Jamie Silva.
While Muir adds some much needed bulk and depth to the Indianapolis defensive line, it was the opportunity to add Davis that the Colts couldn’t pass up.
“Buster Davis we liked coming out of college,” coach Tony Dungy said Monday. “He’s been in Detroit’s [Cover 2 defensive] system and knows what we’re doing. [He] plays with a lot of energy. We really liked him, anyway, and thought we had a chance to upgrade our linebacker corps.”
A collegiate All-America selection as a senior, the hard-hitting Davis has been considered something of a bust since coming into the league last year. But his lack of size, which has seemed to have been a detriment at his two previous stops, may end up suiting him well with Indianapolis.
Standing in at 5-9 and 239 pounds, he is pretty much the same size as Colts starting middle linebacker Gary Brackett (5-11). And he isn’t all that far away in height from weakside linebacker Freddy Keiaho (5-11) or strongside linebacker Clint Session (6-0).
For his part, Davis is glad to be with the Colts and knows that this may be his last/best opportunity to prove to any doubters that he can still be an impact player in the NFL.
“It’s been a whirlwind, but it’s been very easy. It’s a very good situation for me. I’m just glad to be here,” he said. “The coaches were talking to me on the [practice] field. It’s really the same thing [he played with the Lions], just different terminology. It’ll take a couple of days to get it down, but I’ll be ready to go.”
Probably the first thing that caught his eye when he arrived in the Indianapolis lockerroom was how he fit in, size-wise, with the rest of the team’s defensive unit.
“You don’t have to be tall to play in this league,” he pointed out, adding that he has heard it all before about his height. “When you hear those statements, those people don’t really know football. They just don’t know football. And they don’t know the history of football.
“Look at guys like [former New Orleans and Carolina middle linebacker] Sam Mills. Sam Mills was 5-9 and he was one of the best to play the game. So when people say things like that, you can’t give them any credit or respect because they don’t know the history of the game.”
• Offensive line rounding out — Although there’s still no official word as to who will start at center for the Colts in Sunday night’s season opener with the Chicago Bears, it will be a rookie — either Steve Justice or Jamey Richard.
While Justice got a heavy dose of work as a starter in the team’s final preseason game, Richard has been getting a lot of attention for his practice work with quarterback Peyton Manning. There’s still no word on what plan of action center Jeff Saturday is planning for the treatment of his injured right knee, which he hurt Aug. 24.
Dungy said that he wasn’t worried about how either Justice or Richard will play this week. And he wasn’t concerned about how Manning will work with either center, especially when it comes to getting the snaps or when the offense is run from a shotgun formation.
“The guys that are here are here because they can do the job and I think they will,” the Colts coach said. “[Taking snaps from another center is] one of those things that you’d rather not do. But once the game starts, you really don’t even think about it. You’re comfortable with your center.
“But for the most part — especially the way we do it — [associate head coach] Jim Caldwell and [offensive line coach] Howard Mudd … rotate all of our guys through. Even guys like Charlie Johnson and Ryan Lilja have snapped to Peyton and Jim Sorgi many, many times during practice. I hate to say it’s not a big deal. But it’s not one of the things you really think about too much.”
The loss of veteran offensive guard Lilja (knee) for the first six weeks of the season — five Indianapolis games — means that the Colts will have two new starters at right and left offensive guard against the Bears.
Charlie Johnson is expected to get the nod at right guard, replacing former starter Jake Scott in the lineup. Scott signed a free agent contract with the Tennessee Titans after last season. Dan Federkeil, a former collegiate defensive end in Canada who made the transition to offensive tackle when he signed with the Colts three years ago, will move in
and start for Lilja at left
offensive guard.
• Sorgi returns — Jim Sorgi returned to practice Monday and should be fine for the Chicago game.
The Colts backup quarterback had been sidelined for the past two preseason games after suffering a knee injury in the Colts’ preseason win at Atlanta on Aug. 16.
•Practice squad — No officials announcements on the Colts’ eight-man practice squad are planned until Wednesday. Several players released by Indianapolis over the weekend are expected to return, such as running back Chad Simpson, offensive guard Tala Esera, wide receiver Sam Giguere, offensive tackle Michael Toudouze and Silva.
Quarterback Josh Betts, who had been released by the team prior to the start of training camp, is also back. Betts has spent parts of the last two seasons on the Colts’ practice squad.
“I was real happy to get the call on Saturday,” Betts said Monday. “There wasn’t a lot of thought that went into [deciding whether to take the offer from team officials to return]. I was real excited. [His release this summer] was unfortunate how it happened. But I was real excited for the opportunity [to re-join the Colts.
“Coach Dungy has always been real great to me. I’m real excited to see [Jim] Sorgi again and those guys again and work with him. I’m just real thrilled to be back, really. I’m just real excited about any chance that I can get. Excited to be back throwing the ball around a little bit.”
Two Colts waived over the weekend who won’t be back are wide receiver Onrea Jones (signed by Arizona) and safety Brannon Condren (added to the St. Louis Rams roster).
• Former Colts waived by other NFL teams — Several former Indianapolis players were waived or released by NFL teams this past weekend.
Here is the list so far: defensive end Bo Schobel, Jacksonville; fullback Luke Lawton, Oakland; wide receiver Trent Shelton, Seattle; center Doug Datish, Atlanta; tight end Marcus Pollard, Atlanta; defensive tackle Montae Reagor, Philadelphia; linebacker Rocky Boiman, Philadelphia; linebacker Danny Verdun-Wheeler, Washington; cornerback David Macklin, St. Louis; punter Reggie Hodges, Seattle; defensive tackle Larry Triplett, Seattle; running back DeCori Birmingham, Carolina; offensive guard Dylan Gandy, Denver; cornerback Tyrone Poole, Denver; and wide receiver John Standeford, Detroit.
Lawton, though, wasn’t out of work for too long; the Raiders brought him back on Monday.