so, the Colts have some boo-boo's, right?

[Fball]

In't Addai back practicing?

He's been limited in practice most of the week; mostly working out. But I'd be kind of surprised if he didn't play.

When Sunday comes, it's entirely possible that the only player not on IR who will actually miss the game is Sanders...

 

[workhorse]

no, did it sound like i was kidding. the media tries to come up with any reason for the pats dynasty outside of brady. they've even deified a coach that they can't stand (he burned their beloved jets) because they'd rather credit bb than give brady the credit. all i hear from the "experts" is bb is a genius, or it's the system or just recently and begrudgingly, it was the defense. sorry bspn, your gonna have to face the facts. brady's got "IT" and your golden boy, manning, does not. that's all there is to it but they'll never admit it. whatever "IT" is, brady's got "IT".

I'm not buying it. If the NY media doesn't like Brady because of the Jets, that's just one city. I hear all kinds of praise for Brady everywhere. Most Colts fans can't stand ESPN because of how tightly they are hanging from the jocks of Brady and the Patriots. You don't see it that way? Then you are letting the negative stick in your memory more than the positive. Boston and the New England area has a huge media market saturation and nearly all of them love Brady, even if they do think BB is a legend. I see way more people knocking Manning than Brady. The only thing that I have seen lately that is even remotely close to a knock on Brady is how his numbers are down after the Moss trade. And that stuff has been more a knock on the effect of the trade than directed at Brady.

 

[Joker]

I'm not buying it. If the NY media doesn't like Brady because of the Jets, that's just one city. I hear all kinds of praise for Brady everywhere. Most Colts fans can't stand ESPN because of how tightly they are hanging from the jocks of Brady and the Patriots. You don't see it that way? Then you are letting the negative stick in your memory more than the positive. Boston and the New England area has a huge media market saturation and nearly all of them love Brady, even if they do think BB is a legend. I see way more people knocking Manning than Brady. The only thing that I have seen lately that is even remotely close to a knock on Brady is how his numbers are down after the Moss trade. And that stuff has been more a knock on the effect of the trade than directed at Brady.

I'm stunned by this post. It is in complete contradiction to my perception of the media and especially ESPN's and NFLN's portrayal of the Patriots and Brady.

Weird...like some kind of football Doppler effect?

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

We have practice squad players lining up at receiver

Wayne, Garcon, and Collie are expected to play. Your #4 receiver was on the practice squad, that all. His pre-draft profile:

Blair White, an Overlooked Gem in the Draft

"White is seen as a fourth- or fifth-round pick, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he found his way into the end of the third round. He may not blow anyone away with elite athleticism, but his work ethic, heart and desire to be the best have impressed N.F.L. brass. If a team is looking for a tough, smart, deceptively fast possession/slot receiver, then White could outperform many of the wideouts taken ahead of him in the 2010 draft."

Blair White, an Overlooked Gem in the Draft - NYTimes.com

It was puzzling that he wasn't picked. Many sites had him equally ranked with 3rd, 4th, and 5th rounders. He was far more hyped than the Patriots 4th reciever, Julian Edelman. Heck, he was no less regarded coming into his rookie year than Wes Welker, Danny Woodhead, Ben-Jarvis Green-Ellis, Gary Guyton, etc.

Keep beating the "woe is me" drum.

It's a myth

 

[workhorse]

It looks like the Colts will have every one of their starters on offense back with the exception of Clark. Its a total load of crap. Meanwhile, Brady has a couple of undrafted free agents in the back field and a bunch of JAG WRs other than a banged up Welker.

Why is it crap? Even our PS receivers have been getting hurt. We have been dealing with a running back that is looking like a bust of a pick and a couple of PS guys in our running game too. Addai has gone through his first practice in weeks yesterday as a "limited" participant and looks to be a game time call. Hart is still not practicing yet, so Brown will start if Addai can't go.

 

[workhorse]

He's been limited in practice most of the week; mostly working out. But I'd be kind of surprised if he didn't play.

When Sunday comes, it's entirely possible that the only player not on IR who will actually miss the game is Sanders...

Harts not going to play. It's not looking good for Session. Brackett has yet to practice.

 

[tobias funke]

I haven't seen anything where any of the Colts have brought up the injuries. They have been answering questions by reporters.

The only time football players', coaches, GMs, etc. statements are made public are when they're in the form of answers to questions posed by reporters.

Try again.

 

[workhorse]

I'm stunned by this post. It is in complete contradiction to my perception of the media and especially ESPN's and NFLN's portrayal of the Patriots and Brady.

Weird...like some kind of football Doppler effect?

I think the same thing is true for most fan bases. It's an us against them mentality. The negative sticks much more than the praise and seems much louder. There are some serious Colts haters on NFLN. Deion would rather eat his own tongue than praise Manning and Faulk still seems to resent being traded even though he got a ring out of it. But i would be willing to guess most Patriots fans haven't really noticed it.

 

[Kontradiction]

Harts not going to play. It's not looking good for Session. Brackett has yet to practice.

If I were a Colts fan, the only one on that list of three who would even remotely worry me is Brackett. He gives the Pats a laundry list of headaches. Addai can play or he can't, it doesn't really matter. Unless the Colts sign Cleveland's offensive line and Peyton Hillis, they aren't running on the Pats anyway.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I haven't seen anything where any of the Colts have brought up the injuries.

really?

"The fact of the matter is even through some difficult times and things we have to do in terms of shuffling, adjusting our practice, so on an so forth, we are still able to patch it together and move forward"

Jim Caldwell


Every week he says much the same thing. I always notice when he talks, since it never ceases to amze me that he speaks, since on the sidelines he always seems like more of a cardboard prop than a coach, with an audiotape playing the words "do what you want, Mr. Peyton Sir" and "bend but don't break, defense"

 

[workhorse]

The only time football players', coaches, GMs, etc. statements are made public are when they're in the form of answers to questions posed by reporters.

Try again.

My point is they haven't been bringing up the injuries to answer other questions. The haven't used them as excuses. The only time the have really addressed all the injuries is when a reporter says "So Peyton, how are you guys going to overcome all the injuries to the offense?" or some crap like that.

 

[workhorse]

Wayne, Garcon, and Collie are expected to play. Your #4 receiver was on the practice squad, that all. His pre-draft profile:

Blair White, an Overlooked Gem in the Draft

"White is seen as a fourth- or fifth-round pick, but I wouldn’t be shocked if he found his way into the end of the third round. He may not blow anyone away with elite athleticism, but his work ethic, heart and desire to be the best have impressed N.F.L. brass. If a team is looking for a tough, smart, deceptively fast possession/slot receiver, then White could outperform many of the wideouts taken ahead of him in the 2010 draft."

Blair White, an Overlooked Gem in the Draft - NYTimes.com

It was puzzling that he wasn't picked. Many sites had him equally ranked with 3rd, 4th, and 5th rounders. He was far more hyped than the Patriots 4th reciever, Julian Edelman. Heck, he was no less regarded coming into his rookie year than Wes Welker, Danny Woodhead, Ben-Jarvis Green-Ellis, Gary Guyton, etc.

Keep beating the "woe is me" drum.

It's a myth

I hope he is back. The problem with White is he is a slower version of Collie. He is a good 3rd or 4th option. It would be really nice to have Collie back, but he hasn't been cleared by the doctors yet. Hopefully he will be, he got cleared for practice yesterday. If Collie and White are both back, then there is a chance they get Garcon of the field and split Collie out wide instead of in the slot and put White in the slot. The problem with that is then the Colts will have no deep threat. Though some would argue we don't have one right now since Garcon can't seem to catch anything.

 

[tobias funke]

My point is they haven't been bringing up the injuries to answer other questions. The haven't used them as excuses. The only time the have really addressed all the injuries is when a reporter says "So Peyton, how are you guys going to overcome all the injuries to the offense?" or some crap like that.

Bill Polian, circa 1 week ago:

We're really two teams. When we're healthy, assuming at some point that we will get healthy, I think that's a reasonable assumption, I think we're a pretty good team. Right now, we really don't know what we are because we don't know who is going to play from day to day. It's a tribute to our coaching staff that they've gotten this team to play as well as it has for as long as it has. But, if this epidemic of injuries, and that's exactly what it is. It's an epidemic. [If it] continues we can only stretch the rubber band so far. We're on the brink of succumbing to this injury epidemic.

Feel free to find me a quote from Belichick (or anyone working for the Patriots) that even approaches this level of excusery...?

 

[tobias funke]

And another, from Manning himself, in response to a question about comparing Brady/Manning to Bird/Johnson:

It’s really hard for me just in the middle of the 2010 season to think about too much of the history and years past, especially this year with all that’s going on with our team. There are so many new players that we’re playing. [With] some of the challenges that we’ve faced, I’m really just focusing on this year.

He's clearly referencing injuries in this quote, and the question had nothing to do with injuries.

Should I go on?

 

[Joker]

excusery

I'm gonna steal this latest addition to the English language if that's OK with you, Funke

 

[tobias funke]

Another from Manning:

We’re sort of trying to form the identity for our team that week depending on who is playing. That’s why it’s a great challenge in a week like this because you have to do certain things just to take care of the Colts, and then you also have to get ready for the Patriots. It’s sort of a double whammy there. And it is a tremendous challenge to get ready to play against such a good opponent at the same time while you’re still working on getting on the same page with some of the new guys. Brandon James last week played in his first NFL career game, so you do have to spend time working with him [and] getting him on the same page. And then you’ve got to prepare for the opponent as well.

Yeah, it sure is tough when you have to play against your own team AND the opposition...

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

...a reporter says "So Peyton, how are you guys going to overcome all the injuries to the offense?" or some crap like that.

Why don't reporters ask those questions to the Patriots when they suffer from injuries? "So, coach Belichick, Ty Warren was your #1 defensive end and Leigh Bodden your #1 cornerback, how can you overcome losing them?"

the reason: because with the Colts you always get some version of "Aw, shucks, we will just have to deal with it somehow, dadgummit"

and with the Patriots you get

"It is what it is. Guys get hurt and someone else gets the opportunity to do their job. It's the nature of football and it's why we have a 53 man roster and a practice squad"

The latter answer gets boring after awhile.

 

[Kontradiction]

You need to listen to Tobias. He is PatsFans.com's only analrapist.

 

[Joker]

post game Sunday....

hey...where's all the Colts fans?

they all went downtown to drown their sorrows at the Excusery..

 

[tobias funke]

excusery

I'm gonna steal this latest addition to the English language if that's OK with you, Funke

I look forward to seeing it in Webster's Abridged.