Colts coach Chuck Pagano on Frank Gore: 'He's beat to crap'

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano summed up how running back Frank Gore's body is feeling in four simple words on Monday evening.

“He’s beat to crap,” the coach said.

Take your pick when talking about Gore’s injury problems -- thigh, ankle, finger. Pagano made those comments after the 32-year-old Gore was held to a season-low 24 yards on 19 carries against Tampa Bay on Sunday.

“He’s like everybody else,” Pagano said. “He took some shots (against the Buccaneers). But he’s a warrior. He’s a tough son of a gun and he finds a way to get himself right by Sunday and he’ll be right come Sunday night (at Pittsburgh) and we’re going to need him.”

Pagano’s right, the Colts need Gore. They need him badly in fact. What began as a backfield with depth at the start of the season has very little of it now.

Vick Ballard was released. Rookie Josh Robinson was demoted to the practice squad. Ahmad Bradshaw is on injured reserve. Daniel Herron was released and recently brought back after being claimed off waivers from Buffalo. Zurlon Tipton was released and re-signed.

Forty-year-old quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has been a nice story this season, but the Colts can’t count him on to continue to carry them with his arm. They need some help in the running department. The Colts are 26th in league in rushing yards per game and they’ve only had one 100-yard rusher in a game since the start of the 2012 season.

“It is going to be very, very important that we’re able to generate yards on the ground and stay with it,” Pagano said. “Down the stretch we’re on the road, hostile environments, loud, weather, all those things come into play and when it starts to become more difficult to throw the football because of that you better be able to run it ... You’re going to play in some hostile environments and bad weather stadiums and it could be sleeting sideways and it’d be very difficult to throw it, so you better be able to run it.”

Not all the blame can be put on the running backs when it comes to their inability to run the ball. The shuffling along the offensive line continues for the Colts. It started with poor play in Week 3 and now they’re dealing with injuries up front. Joe Reitz started his first regular-season NFL game in place of the injured Anthony Castonzo and rookie Denzelle Good played in his first game at right tackle against the Buccaneers.

“You plug in some new guys, there’s communication that goes on, there’s continuity things that go -- right when you’re starting to make progress you think in the run game, then you lose AC,” Pagano said. “Then you’ve got to take the right tackle and move him to left tackle. You’ve got to stick in a guy from Mars (Good). It’s tough. It’s hard, but we’re going to keep working at it, keep grinding at it.”

COLTS AUTHORITY NOTEBOOK: A STRAIGHT SURGEON

“I’m just trying not to screw it all up. That’s all.” Matt Hasselbeck said on Sunday. I would say he’s doing a pretty good job of that. “A straight surgeon. He played a great game,” Winston said in describing Hasselbeck.

Backup quarterbacks around the league have struggled mightily this year. Jimmy Clausen, Zach Mettenberger, EJ Manuel, Brandon Weeden, and Matt Cassel are a handful of backups that couldn’t win a single game, Hasselbeck is 4-0. He is now the first quarterback in NFL history to win his first four games at the age of 40.

With the way Hasselbeck has performed this season it has caused many in the national media to question if the Colts should go back to Andrew Luck when he becomes healthy. Chuck Pagano was asked about it on Monday, “Andrew is our starting quarterback. When he’s healthy, he’s going to be under center.” Pagano wasn’t shy about who his quarterback will be when Luck is healthy.

Hasselbeck has been great for the Colts but they will only go as far as Luck will take them come playoff time. The offense has been BAD in two of the four games Hasselbeck has started this season. They needed a couple of missed field goals to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier this season while Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons gave the Colts an early Christmas present by handing the game over to them.

Luck did beat the No. 1 defense in the NFL the last time he played. The same defense that just gave Tom Brady all kinds of fits in the second half Sunday night.

Pass Rush Found

“We were on a mission,” outside linebacker Trent Cole said after Sunday’s win. Cole had his first sack in a Colts uniform and four quarterback hits, easily his best game as a Colt. The Colts are near the bottom of the league in sacks this season with only 19 sacks, five of those came against Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Kendall Langford isn’t known for his “rah-rah” speeches but he was angry and gave a “brother-to-brother” talk to a group that gave up three scores in three possessions in the first half. His message got across quickly. With four second-half sacks, a fourth-down stop, and game-sealing interception, the defense pitched a shutout in the second half. In the final two quarters, the defense allowed 120 total yards on 33 plays.

Colts Kickers Are Awesome

That’s really all that needs to be said about Adam Vinatieri and Pat McAfee. Vinatieri has hit his last 16 field goals after nailing four on Sunday. The oldest player in the NFL has connected on 10 of those 16 field goals from at least 40 yards. McAfee had three punts with a net average of 49.7 yards per punt. Just one of Tampa Bay’s 10 offensive drives started past its own 20-yard line. McAfee is challenging the NFL record for net punting average in a season. McAfee is currently averaging 44.2 net yards per punt, which would tie the NFL single-season record.

Injury Bug

The big injury news this week was Ahmad Bradshaw going on the injured reserve with a wrist injury. The Colts signed Zurlon Tipton to be the third back behind Frank Gore and Boom Herron. “It’s devastating,” Pagano stated talking about Bradshaw’s injury. I would say this is the last time we see Bradshaw in a Colts uniform since he can’t stay healthy. He did some great things with the Colts and his style of play will be missed.

Anthony Castonzo is still week-to-week with the sprained MCL. That basically guarantees that Castonzo will be out another week with the knee injury. I expect the Colts to use the same offensive line they used against the Bucs this week. Joe Reitz made his first career start at left tackle and Denzelle Good made his first career start the first time he was active for a NFL game. Pro Football Focus graded Reitz at a +2.3 on Sunday. Pagano said about Good, “he’s got a chance to be a really good player.” Outside of some “brain farts,” as Good called them after the game, things were pretty quiet on the right side of the Colts offensive line.

Mike Adams is day-to-day after missing the past two weeks. Phillip Dorsett is listed as day-to-day. Andrew Luck is still week-to-week with his injuries. Jerrell Freeman is week-to-week with a grade two hamstring injury. Nate Irving filled in for Freeman on Sunday coming up with two of the biggest defensive plays of the game, a sack and a pass deflection. I think Irving will fill in just fine for Freeman while he is out.

Colts Stay Atop AFC South

Remember when people were saying the AFC South could go down as the worst division in NFL history this season? John Clayton, NFL senior writer, thought unless the Colts picked things up it would be the worst division ever. John wasn’t the only one who questioned if it could be the worst division ever just a month ago. Now, all of a sudden, the AFC South has TWO teams that are currently in the playoffs if the season ended today. Is this real life?

The Colts hold the tiebreaker over the Houston Texans for first place in the division while the Texans hold one of the two wildcard spots. The Texans are hanging right in there with the Colts and the defense is playing really well. Unless the Colts win their next two games and the Texans lose their next two games I think there will be a lot of pressure on the Colts to get Andrew Luck back on the field for the December 20th matchup with the Texans. That might be the game to make or break the Colts playoff hopes.

Colts working on new deal for LT Anthony Castonzo

After wrapping up a long-term extension for star wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, the Indianapolis Colts have moved on to working on a new deal for left tackle Anthony Castonzo.

While declining to go into detail, general manager Ryan Grigson confirmed Tuesday the team is currently negotiating with Castonzo. The 27-year-old is entering the final season of his rookie contract.

“I am not going to comment on active contract negotiations, but I will leave it at that,” Grigson said via ESPN's Mike Wells.

Castonzo has proven both durable and effective in his first four seasons with the Colts. He was the only Indianapolis lineman to start every game last season and his 1,090 offensive snaps led the NFL.

The former first-round pick is one of a group of Indianapolis offensive stars entering the final years of the contracts, including tight ends Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener. Star quarterback Andrew Luck is also in line for an extension that will likely put him among the highest paid players in the game, if not at the top.

With so many key contributors in line for new deals, Grigson said it's imperative the Colts be smart with handing out contracts.

“We have been preparing for these days for a long time, and I think we have been pretty vigilant and we have been on point about what we have to spend and what will hamstring us in the future,” Grigson said. “We pay close attention to our budgets.

“We don’t want to end up in a spot where we have to be in dire straits again. It’s just not worth it. In the long run, if you want to stay in success you can’t have those tremendous holes in terms of your cash or your cap.”

Jets go to 2-0 with MNF win over Colts

INDIANAPOLIS -- Cornerback Darrelle Revis recovered two fumbles and intercepted a pass, and the New York Jets made life miserable for Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts in a 20-7 victory Monday night in Lucas Oil Stadium.

New York quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdown passes, including a 15-yarder to wide receiver Brandon Marshall with 6:20 remaining to cap a seven-play, 80-yard drive after the Colts closed within 10-7.

The Jets (2-0) intercepted Luck three times, recovered one of his fumbles and also recovered a fumble by running back Frank Gore at the goal line -- Revis snatched that one -- denying Indianapolis (0-2) what would have been a third-quarter touchdown.

Luck finished 21 of 37 for 250 yards and one touchdown. He committed four of the Colts' five turnovers -- three interceptions and a fumble.

Since the start of the 2012 season and Luck's career, the Colts are 16-2 in AFC South games, 17-15 outside the division.

The Colts, who also began the 2014 season 0-2, drove 91 yards in eight plays for their only score, a 26-yard touchdown pass from the struggling Luck to wide receiver Donte Moncrief (seven receptions, 122 yards) with 10:07 left in the fourth quarter.

Fitzpatrick countered with his second touchdown pass, and with 4:35 remaining, Jets free safety Marcus Gilchrist intercepted Luck along the right sideline, protecting a 10-point lead.

After the Gilchrist pick, Nick Folk kicked a 46-yard field goal with 57 seconds to play, extending the Jets' lead to 13 points.

Fitzgerald finished 22 of 34 for 244 yards with one interception. Wide receiver Brandon Marshall had seven receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown, and wide receiver Eric Decker added eight catches for 97 yards and a score.

New York strong safety Calvin Pryor set up the game's first score with an interception of Luck with 8:28 remaining in the first quarter, returning it 29 yards to the Indianapolis 9-yard line.

Fitzpatrick threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Decker after a holding penalty against Colts cornerback Vontae Davis extended the drive and gave New York a first down at the 4.

Folk's extra point gave the Jets a 7-0 lead with 6:44 remaining in the opening period.

The Colts moved deep into Jets' territory on the ensuing drive, but kicker Adam Vinatieri missed wide right on a 29-yard field-goal attempt with 4:02 remaining in the first quarter.

New York extended its lead to 10-0 with 1:51 remaining in the first half on Folk's 35-yard field goal, capping a 10-play, 54-yard drive. The march included a 19-yard pass to Decker that moved the ball to the Indianapolis 31.

The Jets threatened to extend their first-half lead, but Folk missed a 48-yard field goal attempt on the second quarter's final play. Revis set up that opportunity by recovering a Luck fumble at the Indianapolis 48.

Including last week's loss at Buffalo, the Colts failed to score in the opening half in consecutive games for the first time since Weeks 8 and 9 of the 1997 season.

NOTES: Colts veteran LB Robert Mathis and WR T.Y. Hilton answered any questions about their health by playing against the Jets. ... Indianapolis was penalized four times for 36 yards in a sloppy first quarter, including holding penalties against TE Dwayne Allen and LT Anthony Castonzo during the Colts' opening possession. ... Colts QB Andrew Luck started slowly, completing only three of eight passes for 35 yards and an interception during the first quarter. ... The Jets' inactive players were QB Geno Smith, WR Devin Smith, CB Darrin Walls, OLB Lorenzo Mauldin, G Jarvis Harrison, T Ben Ijalana and NT Deon Simon. ... The Colts' inactives were CB Darius Butler, CB Greg Toler, ILB Nate Irving, DT T.Y. McGill, T Denzelle Good, OLB Jonathan Newsome and NT Zach Kerr.

Andrew Luck Must Shake Off Slow Start Quickly to Cement His Future

Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts are 0-2 after falling to the New York Jets by a score of 20-7 earlier tonight, and the loss was ugly enough that the team’s star quarterback needs something of a wakeup call.

Against a tough Jets’ defense, Luck completed 21 of 37 pass attempts for 250 yards and a touchdown, but he was also responsible for four of the Colts’ five turnovers in that he threw three interceptions and lost a fumble. Needless to say, with Spotrac listing his salary for this season as approximately $3.4 million and Indianapolis already having picked up his fifth-year option, worth $16.1 million, Luck needs to find some of just that if he wants any leverage in negotiating his next contract.

Granted, the Colts’ slow start does not mean Luck is in danger of not getting a new contract from the team. That could not be further from the truth. The former Stanford star and first overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft is easily the best quarterback the Colts have had since Peyton Manning (and the only one, not counting the 2011 season that saw Kerry Collins, Dan Orlovsky and Kerry Collins see time under center while Manning was injured), and led his team to an 11-5 record in his first three seasons while getting deeper into the playoffs each time. For his career, he has thrown for 13,450 yards and 91 touchdowns while also adding 949 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. On the whole, he is an incredible young talent whose future is getting brighter by the day.

On top of that, this isn’t the first time that Indianapolis has gone 0-2 to start the season under Luck. That also happened last season, with tough losses to the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles and given how Indianapolis rattled off six straight wins after that, there is every possibility that the same could happen this year.

That isn’t to say that Luck has played absolutely terribly this season and is 100 percent to blame for his team’s struggles. His first two games have come against two remarkable defenses, one that is currently coached by Rex Ryan and another that was built by the same man, and the lack of a strong running game to complement the passing attack on top of a shaky offensive line have certainly not helped matters.

This is what makes the Colts’ rough start borderline unacceptable. GM Ryan Grigson gave 32-year-old running back Frank Gore a three-year, $12 million deal in free agency that included $6.5 million in guaranteed money, veteran receiver and longtime Houston Texan Andre Johnson earned a three-year, $21 million contract with $10 million guaranteed, and left tackle Anthony Castonzo, the man who protects the right-handed Luck’s blind side, received a four-year, $43.8 million extension with $35 million in guaranteed money just before the start of the regular season. The rest of the team’s offensive line earns a combined $2.91 million in salary this season, be it due to experience level or overall skill, and the long and short of it is that Luck needs to rally both it and the running backs while also acknowledging his own mistakes if Indianapolis is indeed destined to take another step forward.

Sean Payton: Clark Kent's not walking in the door

METAIRIE, La. -- Sean Payton didn’t spend his Monday installing phone booths inside the New Orleans Saints practice facility.

“Look, we’ve got this roster right now, and Clark Kent’s not walking in the door,” said Payton, who wasn’t ready for a big-picture discussion Monday about whether the Saints’ roster has lost too many players in recent years to compete for championships.

Instead, Payton was harping more on things like turnovers and penalties that have doomed them during their 0-2 start.

“We’ve gotta clean up some of the mistakes that are keeping us from winning games,” Payton said when asked about the draft picks the Saints lost to Bountygate in 2012 and 2013 and the veterans they’ve let go via trade or salary-cap cuts.

“I understand the question, and yet we’re focused on Carolina.”

Payton made those comments before the specific details emerged on the status of his Superman quarteback Drew Brees' shoulder injury on Monday afternoon.

Brees was diagnosed with a bruised rotator cuff after taking a big hit to his throwing shoulder in this past Sunday's 26-19 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to ESPN NFL Insiders Ed Werder and Chris Mortensen. The Saints are hoping Brees can play this Sunday at the Carolina Panthers if he responds well to treatment.

But with or without Brees in the lineup, Payton stressed the need to improve the specific details that have cost the Saints even when he has been on the field these past two weeks.

Payton was mostly frustrated by the turnovers -- three on Sunday, plus three other fumbles the Saints recovered -- and penalties (10 for 115 yards). But there have been plenty of other issues.

“It’s not one big thing. It’s not as easy as saying, ‘Hey, this is the one thing we gotta fix,’” Payton said. “It’s generally a handful of things you’ve got to be a little more efficient at.”

Unfortunately for the Saints, those problems have changed on a rotating basis.

In Week 1 at Arizona, three of the Saints’ biggest issues were going 1-of-4 in the red zone, forcing zero sacks on defense and breaking down defensively a handful of times in the middle of the field. All three areas improved in Week 2 while others faltered.

The Saints’ run game was stagnant for the first six quarters this season. Then when it finally got going in the second half Sunday, the Saints turned the ball over three times (a Brees interception and fumbles by Willie Snead and Mark Ingram).

Kicker Zack Hocker, who went 4-for-4 in field goal attempts in Week 1, missed a field goal and had an extra point blocked in Week 2.

The Saints made one notable lineup change during the second half Sunday, replacing veteran defensive end Akiem Hicks to create some more juice in the pass rush. And Payton said it was effective.

But Payton stressed that you don’t want to “go reaching for wholesale changes.”

“I think you can cause yourself a lot of mistakes and harm by doing that,” Payton said. “I think you’ve gotta look closely at what it is that kept you from winning a game. And half the times in this league, a team loses and coaching staff and Monday starts up and they still don’t know why they lost.”

An 0-2 start is the last thing the Saints needed after they started 0-4 last year and collapsed in the end to finish 7-9. Payton made starting faster a point of emphasis in the offseason.

But both Payton and players expressed confidence in the overall attitude and camaraderie of the team so far. Those were big issues in the locker room last year and led to a major roster overhaul this season. Just last week, Brees stressed that he thinks the Saints are a better team now because they have “better people.”

“Nobody’s fighting at all. We’re a close-knit team. Nobody’s pointing fingers. There’s no small groups,” Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro said. “I think we’ve got a good group of guys in this locker room that can handle adversity. I think we’re closer as a team. I know the DBs are really close. We talk about our mistakes, we’re critical and then we move on.

“It’s frustrating. But we knew it was gonna be a dogfight. It’s always close no matter how people view Tampa Bay, how people view us. A divisional opponent is always hard. It kind of goes back to 2013, we could have easily lost those two (during a 2-0 start). They’re always dogfights. So we just gotta get over that hump and win those in the final moments.”

Colts Reach Contract Extension With Left Tackle Anthony Castonzo

Intro: On Thursday night, the Colts and bookend left tackle Anthony Castonzo reached a contract extension. How long will Castonzo be remaining in Indianapolis?

INDIANAPOLIS – The Colts history of drafting and keeping their own added another rather large piece on Thursday night.

Anthony Castonzo and the Colts have reached a contract extension, reportedly for four years and $43.6 million. The extension will keep Castonzo a Colt through the 2019 season, as he was entering the final year of his rookie contract.

Ever since being drafted in the first-round of the 2011 NFL Draft, Castonzo has been a stalwart at the left tackle position in Indianapolis.

Castonzo played 1,115 snaps last season, the most of any NFL offensive lineman.

“He’s like that old pickup. You can always count on him,” Chuck Pagano said of Castonzo earlier this year.

“You can turn the (darn) thing over and he’s always going to start. He shows up week-in-and-week-out. I’m very grateful that we have him.”

Colts brass reiterated several times this offseason that locking up Castonzo before the start of the 2015 season was a major priority.

Castonzo has started 56 consecutive games, the fifth longest current streak among NFL offensive tackles.

He’s missed just four snaps in the last two seasons (those coming in the 2013 regular season finale, when the Colts had a 30-3 lead on Jacksonville).

In 2012, Castonzo played every offensive snap (1,169).

With Castonzo and T.Y. Hilton now under contract for the foreseeable future, the Colts have their offensive core established with Andrew Lucks deal up next.

"Left tackles like Anthony Castonzo are hard to come by,” Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson said in a press release.

“He's a team first guy that works as hard at his craft as anyone I have ever been around regardless of position. His desire to be great literally consumes him and he is a shining example of the sacrifice it truly takes every single day to be at the top of his game come Sunday. From ownership on down we are all extremely happy that AC will be wearing the horseshoe for many years to come. "