Everything I Saw From Day 2 Of Colts Training Camp: Efficient Offense is Back on the Menu

WESTFIELD, IN -- The Indianapolis Colts continued training camp on Thursday with their second practice at Grand Park.

The weather featured perfect football weather with not a cloud in sight, and the Colts took advantage of such with a high-spirited showing.

Head coach Shane Steichen is slowly but surely getting his team back into regular-season shape, so there is bound to be some offseason rust to knock off, and it's been a solid performance thus far.

With that being said, I'm breaking down all that stood out to me in the Colts' second practice of training camp.

Daniel Jones Continues to Impress

We talked in-depth about the Colts' starting quarterback showing little to no signs of his Achilles tear from eight months ago, and he only continued to showcase his impressive return on Day 2.

Not only has Jones shown a promising return to form in regards to his physical capabilities, rolling out and scrambling as if nothing happened, but he's remained the same quarterback between the ears that has total control of Shane Steichen's offense.

This combination led him to be named the Colts' starter a season ago, and that decision from Steichen has only been reaffirmed to be the right choice.

Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard continue to duke it out for the team's primary backup, with each having high and low moments of their own, but it's Jones who has impressed most.

Jones was perfect to kick off their first 7-on-7 session of the day. After the Colts' legitimate starting secondary gave the offense's passing attack fits on Day 1, Jones and his Alec Pierce-less passcatchers rebounded early on Day 2.

Even though most of the targets were on shorter attempts, Jones was carving them up and had zero incompletions. He found Josh Downs on an out route to kick things off and followed that up with a nice connection to Ashton Dulin on a skinny post.

Jones then managed back-to-back completions to tight end Tyler Warren, a quick out and a hitch, before ending the session with a strong find over the middle on a dig to Laquon Treadwell.

The team came together for their first 11-on-11 session, and this is when Jones had his first miss of the day. On a play-action rollout to the right, he would force one to a heavily contested Tyler Warren and which undercut for his first interception of camp by linebacker Austin Ajiake.

I'd be remiss not to point out that third-year edge defender Laiatu Latu was a big factor in this slip-up, as his quick pressure contributed to the play. Regardless, you don't want to see your starting quarterback make the poor decision that he did, but at least Jones locked back in afterwards.

He had another incompletion on a deep throw down the sideline to Josh Downs, but it was a near-perfect throw that can be chalked up as top-notch defense by second-year cornerback Justin Walley.

Overall, Daniel Jones was sharp throughout the Colts' second practice, and his reintroduction in training camp has been promising thus far.

The Colts shocked the NFL with early on in 2025 with their ridiculous efficiency, and so far, it looks like there's a possibility they could channel said recent success.

DC Lou Anarumo Experiments

The Colts brought back their defensive stars from a season ago, but the rest of the depth chart remains to be seen, and second-year defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo has already begun experimenting with what those openings and rotations will look like in 2026.

The strong safety opening has featured multiple starting looks from their newcomers through two days thus far, so the expected position battle appears to be in full swing.

Hunter Wohler, rookie A.J. Haulcy, Johnathan Owens, and Juanyeh Thomas have all gotten various reps with the first team, so even though none of them have made a splash play quite yet, a standout is sure to present itself sooner rather than later.

Second-year defensive end Jaylahn Tuimoloau got his first bit of starting run on Day 2 after veteran FA addition Arden Key took all of the reps in the first practice, so it's only a matter of time -- likely when the pads come on -- that either will separate themselves as the Week 1 starter.

Anaurmo's multiple defense provides ample opportunity for more than the eleven projected starters to get playing time on Sundays, and he experimented with a five-down look in the team's only 11-on-11 session.

#Colts DC Lou Anarumo went five down in the final 11-on-11 period:

Laiatu Latu
Colby Wooden
Adetomiwa Adebawore
Grover Stewart
Jaylahn Tuimoloau

Bryce Boettcher
Austin Ajiake

Sauce Gardner
Cam Bynum
A.J. Haulcy
Justin Walley
— Noah Compton (@nerlens_) July 30, 2026

It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out once the regular season arrives, but so far it appears the Colts have enough depth for Lou Anarumo to employ his various exotic looks as he sees fit.

Linebacker Depth Gets Valuable Reps

Colts LB — Jun 10, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts linebacker Jaylon Carlies (57) and Indianapolis Colts linebacker Bryce Boettcher (50) participate in a drill during minicamp at Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With second-round pick LB CJ Allen out for the foreseeable future after tweaking his calf in a recent workout, there's lots of opportunity early on for the room below him to carve out a role.

Allen's expected runningmate with the starting unit, veteran Akeem Davis-Gaither, took all of the first-team reps alongside rookie Bryce Boettcher on Day 1, but he was sidelined on Day 2 which opened the door for the rest of the room to get some valuable reps.

The trio of Bryce Boettcher, Jaylon Carlies, and Austin Ajiake combined for the starting reps on Day 2, but it was the latter of which who shined most.

Ajiake had an impressive interception on Daniel Jones in the team's lone 11-on-11 session, and proved that he shouldn't be counted on when it comes to an eventual rotation once the regular season arrives.

Justin Walley is Still a Dawg

I plan to cover this more in-depth in a later piece today, but second-year cornerback Justin Walley has picked up right where he left off from a season ago.

Before he tore his ACL ahead of the 2025 regular season, Walley presented himself as the second-best option alongside Charvarius Ward Sr. going into the year.

So far through days, Walley looks like the exact same player he was during last year's camp, notching multiple impressive pass break-ups through two days.

The Colts are relying on Walley to take Kenny Moore II's role as the starting slot cornerback after years of high-standard play, and so far, he's looking to be the perfect replacement.

Other Notes:

Backup RB Battle: Both DJ Giddens and rookie Seth McGowan have shown extended flashes of serious shiftiness on the ground, but their pass-catching ability remains to be seen. Each has had a brutal drop throughout the first two days of practice.

Kicking Competition: Spencer Shrader and Blake Grupe have yet to have a dedicated kicking duel, with practices being just 1-hour long so far, but expect these to come into the regular rotation once practice ramps up.

Punt Return: While no official reps were coming off the veteran leg of Rigoberto Sanchez, it appears that wideouts Josh Downs and Ashton Dulin appear to be the primary punt returners.

WR Rotation: Veteran FA signee Nick Westbrook-Ikhine got his first bit of first-team run today, and mainly served as the main motion man on various reps.

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