Like Everyone Else in NFL, Indianapolis Colts Can't Develop Much Team Chemistry Being Alone

Offseason training activities set to begin April 20th will be postponed and possibly canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, which makes integrating new players such as quarterback Philip Rivers that much more of a challenge.

INDIANAPOLIS — So what happens when the Indianapolis Colts don’t have offseason training activities and the team is unable to get together for the first time until July or August?

Specifically, how difficult will that be for new players looking to build locker-room chemistry? Colts general manager Chris Ballard has added quarterback Philip Rivers, defensive tackles DeForest Buckner and Sheldon Day, and cornerbacks Xavier Rhodes and T.J. Carrie, but they’re stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nobody knows just how seriously the NFL schedule could be impacted, but it’s fair to say teams such as the Colts get only do so much on Zoom video conference calls.

“My guess is as good as yours,” Carrie said in a recent video conference call, “in the sense where I’m kind of uncertain on which way we’ll go with how everything is.

“But I think it definitely puts more of a challenge on us as players because we’re not around the coaches, we’re not around our teammates and so that building process, that cohesiveness that you get from OTAs and these offseason programs, I don’t know if we’ll have it.”

There is no longer any guesswork about OTAs starting on time on April 20th. Forget about that. Start wondering if they will happen at all.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced earlier this week that NFL team facilities will be closed indefinitely and that the April 23-25 NFL draft will be handled virtually via remote communication.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell just informed clubs in a memo that club facilities will remain closed indefinitely and the league will conduct a “fully virtual” draft, with club personnel separately located in their homes. pic.twitter.com/28t2kNnLAI

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 6, 2020

The Colts especially need the practice time when considering they’re bringing in a new quarterback in the 38-year-old Rivers. Yes, he has 16 years of experience, including past Chargers work with Colts head coach Frank Reich and offensive coordinator Nick Siriani, so the veteran passer knows most of the playbook although he’s not set foot in Indy yet.

But there’s something to be said for Rivers getting his timing down with his wide receivers, especially No. 1 T.Y. Hilton. OTA reps matter for that chemistry. Remember how quarterbacks and wide receivers often got together on their own in the past? Not this year.

Same on defense, where Rhodes and Carrie join a retooled secondary with young safeties in Malik Hooker and Khari Willis as well as a second-year starting cornerback in Rock Ya-Sin.

Rhodes said on his recent video conference call that nickel cornerback Kenny Moore II had reached out to him.

“We’re going to have our opportunity to sit down and talk,” Rhodes said, “let him know what I know about the game, try to understand him as a player and him understand me as a player, try to work with him and do what we can to try to build a bond.”

Rhodes, surprised by his release after seven seasons with Minnesota, chose the Colts in part because of his familiarity with assistant coaches Alan Williams and Jonathan Gannon from his Vikings days.

“I spoke with JG the whole free agency process and he knows me as a player, he knows what I’m about,” Rhodes said. “Like I said, I wanted a fresh start and that was the guy I chose to be with because he understood me as a player when he was at Minnesota with me – him and Alan.”