Published: August 12, 2008 11:29 pm         

Colts' young linebacker is taking his shot

Thanks to injuries, Kyle Shotwell getting plenty of reps

TERRE HAUTE — Have you ever had nightmares where you spaced out and forgot to do something important at work?

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Kyle Shotwell has them too. The difference is that conquering the stuff of his nightmares might culminate in his dream come true.

“Training camp is way more mentally demanding than physically demanding. You have sleepless nights where you wake up and go, ‘Oh man, what do I do in this coverage?’” Shotwell said. “There’s been a lot of moments like that, especially for someone like me, who is new to the system and is seeing things for the first time.”

Shotwell is seeing things for the first time because of injuries in the Colts’ linebacking corps. Tyjuan Hagler, Clint Session, Philip Wheeler and Gary Brackett have all been sidelined by injuries of varying severity during training camp. As a result, the first-year player from Cal Poly is getting plenty of repetitions — and plenty of chances to not only limit his mistakes, but take advantage of a golden opportunity.

“I’ve definitely had opportunities with all of the injuries we’ve had. I’m taking advantage of the situation. Luckily for me, I’m getting a lot of reps, so I can learn by my mistakes in practice, rather than make them in the game. It’s been carrying over from practice to the games for me,” Shotwell said.

Shotwell has evolved from a semi-obscure free-agent acquisition to one of the Colts’ steadiest defensive performers in the preseason.

The 6-foot, 235-pound Shotwell started in the Colts’ 30-16 preseason opening loss to Washington, registering six tackles. He didn’t start in Saturday’s 23-20 overtime loss to Carolina, but repeated his six-tackle performance, a tally that was second only to Brannon Condren’s nine tackles.

Shotwell has managed to be productive despite tours of duty at each of the Colts’ linebacker spots in the 4-3. Shotwell is currently listed on the Colts’ depth chart as the backup to Freddy Keiaho on the weak side, but he has seen extended duty in the middle with Brackett having been hurt. Shotwell’s quickness makes him a natural for passing situations.

“He’s really shown his versatility. He started out as a weak-side linebacker, then kind of learned the strong side. Now he’s in the middle,” Colts coach Tony Dungy said. “He played the full game in the nickel package, which is his forte anyway, to move him into coverage.”

Playing the middle means Shotwell has the extra responsibility of making the defensive calls, but Shotwell has been a quick study.

“He’s smart, he doesn’t make a lot of mental errors and he’s got to be smart enough to get them lined up … he has to make all the calls,” Colts linebackers coach Mike Murphy said.

Anyone who saw Shotwell enjoy a standout four-year career at Cal Poly wouldn’t be surprised by his Colts progress.

Shotwell was the best defensive player in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (then Division I-AA) during his senior season at Cal Poly in 2006. He averaged 11.1 tackles per game for the Mustangs, was eighth in the nation in total tackles (122) and won the Buck Buchanan Award, awarded to the best defensive player in the FCS.

However, Shotwell’s NFL road has been bumpy. He was one of the last players waived by the Oakland Raiders after the 2007 preseason. He was promptly signed to the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad, where he spent the entire 2007 season. He was waived Jan. 1 and signed by the Colts on Jan. 14.

Though he’s performed well thus far in the preseason, once the regular season begins, Shotwell is still a long shot to play many snaps on defense. Shotwell knows it, and like any other player in his situation, he’s trying to make himself as versatile as he can to make the opening-day roster.

“I think I can be a real steady special-teams performer. I’ve taken my special-teams practices as seriously as I have my defensive practices,” said Shotwell, who had two special-teams tackles against the Redskins on Aug. 3.

“I feel like I can be a special-teams star for this team, this season. I need to work my butt off to know my playbook and have my stuff together so if, God forbid, something were to happen to one of the starters, the coaches would feel comfortable throwing me into the fire.”

All Shotwell has to do is look at the man in front of him on the middle linebacker depth chart (Brackett) to understand how valuable the opportunity he’s being given can be.

“The nature of this business is to take advantage of the opportunities. The present leading tackler in this organization did that … nothing more need be said,” Murphy said.

Brackett made the Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2003 and hasn’t looked back, leading the Colts with 149 tackles in 2007. Shotwell hopes he can be a similar good fit on the Colts’ defense.

“The Colts pride themselves on bringing in hard-working character guys. That’s what I’ve been my whole life. I want to be a consistent player, a good teammate, a good person on and off the field. I feel like my personality is in line with how the Colts feel about these things,” Shotwell said.