Harrison present, not talking or practicing at Colts' minicamp

By Tom James
Tribune-Star Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS May 16, 2008 09:57 pm

— Wide receiver Marvin Harrison will be in attendance for all three days of the Indianapolis Colts’ mandatory minicamp, which began Friday at the team’s West 56th Street headquarters.
Harrison, who missed most of the 2007 season with a left knee injury and had minor surgery to clean up scar tissue on his right knee earlier this year, will not be taking part in any of the team’s workouts. And he also will not be available to discuss or explain his role in a recent shooting in his hometown of Philadelphia either.
The Colts’ media relations office, however, did issue a written statement in which he reiterated the comments that team president Bill Polian made two weeks ago when the shooting incident first came to light.
“With respect to questions regarding Marvin Harrison being interviewed by police in Philadelphia, we have nothing to add to Bill Polian’s statement issued two weeks ago,” the statement read. “We don’t anticipate addressing any such questions unless and until there is an official report of the facts from the Philadelphia Police Department.”
When it came to any discussion of his current off-field situation, reaction from some of Harrison’s Indianapolis teammates took on something of a wait-and-see attitude on Friday.
“Just shocked that it happened, hoping that he was OK,” said center Jeff Saturday, recalling his initial thoughts when he first heard the early details of what had happened. “I didn’t really know a whole lot about it. I kind of caught [the reports of the shooting] late. Then I heard the story that he wasn’t a suspect, so I just really put it behind me and wished him the best. I hope everything works out quickly.
“The worst thing is that you don’t want a guy who has reputation that he has for so many years in the league to get tarnished over something that he really had no control over. And, hopefully, that’s what it will end up coming out.”
Tight end Dallas Clark agreed, adding that he — much like everybody else with the Colts — was waiting for more facts to surface before forming a hard-and-fast opinion.
“It’s the same thing that is anything that you kind of hear. It’s just a lot of speculation. It’s one of those things where I don’t think that whole thing hasn’t been figured out. So when it does, then I’ll make a conclusion. But right now, [I’m] just [supporting] Marv,” Clark said.
“He’s a phenomenal receiver. He’ll be doing what Marv does best (if he returns to Pro Bowl form from the last year knee injury) as he’s done in the past years. Marv’s fine. He’s a great player and he’ll be ready.”
For his part, quarterback Peyton Manning deferred to the team statement on Harrison’s situation in Philadelphia. He said that he has yet to sit down and discuss it with him.
“I’ve not spoken to him about it. I know Bill Polian and Coach [Tony] Dungy released a statement [Friday], so I don’t really feel the need to say anything beyond that. But I have not talked to Marvin specifically about that,” Manning said.
“Like anything I didn’t have a whole lot of reaction to [reports of the shooting] because I hadn’t talked to anyone personally about it. I had text messages from friends, but I hadn’t talked to Coach Dungy or hadn’t talked Marvin. I’ve been around long enough that until I hear from somebody who truly knows what’s going on, I don’t give it a whole lot of merit. So that was kind of where I was when I heard about it.”
Dungy, meanwhile, said Friday that he has not talked to Harrison about what happened but plans to at some point this spring. But he did discuss his feelings about off-the-field activities that present his players in a negative way, including the recent arrest of running back Kenton Keith and the past legal problems of re-signed running back Dominic Rhodes.
“We don’t want to have any problems. We’ve had some. Marvin’s situation has been in the paper. We’ll see how that plays out. Kenton Keith’s situation has been in the paper. I have talked to Kenton about his. We’ll see how that plays out. And when all the facts come out, we’ll address those,” he said.
“We’re not a team that’s going to just say if you had an issue, that you can’t play for us. We want things to happen a certain way when people are here. And we think they will. We’ve had some conversations with Dom and he knows what’s expected here. He knows what our standards are, so we feel very good about bringing him back.”
Harrison not the only one sitting out — Defensive end Dwight Freeney (foot), safety Bob Sanders (shoulders) and offensive guard Ryan Lilja (knee) are among the handful of players — along with Harrison — who will be on the sidelines during minicamp.
“Marvin will not. We have five or six other guys that will not. It’s kind of still fluid at this point. Dwight Freeney will not, Bob Sanders will not, Ryan Lilja will not. And there will be a couple of other guys that medically won’t be cleared to go yet [for the entire weekend],” the Colts coach said.
Also not practicing Friday were middle linebacker Gary Brackett, cornerback Michael Coe, cornerback/kick returner T.J. Rushing, and offensive guard Tala Esera. According to Dungy, Harrison, Freeney, Sanders and Lilja have all made good recoveries from offseason medical procedures
“We had the medical meeting [Thursday] night and I think we’re pretty happy with the results,” he said. “The doctors were happy with the results of everyone that ended the season last year injured. And the report that I’ve gotten is that Marvin is doing well and right where the doctors hoped he would be. Bob Sanders is. Dwight is. So we feel pretty good about our medical situation right now.”
• Rhodes wears No. 38 for now — After wearing No. 33 during his first tour of duty with the Colts, Dominic Rhodes is now sporting No. 38 during the team’s workouts. Second-year safety Melvin Bullitt requested and was awarded No. 33 last spring after Rhodes signed a free agent contract with the Oakland Raiders.
“I’m trying to get [the old number] back, but I haven’t had any luck so far,” Rhodes joked Friday. “The kid is holding on to it pretty tightly right now. He said it had sentimental value, but I’m trying to convince him to get it back.
“Some of the other guys on the team have been putting some friendly pressure on him, but he isn’t budging. We’ll see what happens. I’d love to get it back. I had a lot of success with that jersey the first time I was here. All the fans here are used to seeing me wear it. But if I don’t, that’s OK.”
Bullitt wore No. 33 in high school and in college at Texas A&M. His father also wore No. 33 during his playing days.

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