Colts Pound Away at Lucas Oil Stadium

At the start of the second half of Monday’s practice at Lucas Oil Stadium, the Indianapolis Colts offensive line created gaping holes for a dominant rushing attack with running back Marlon Mack.

When the Indianapolis Colts began the second half of their Monday training-camp workout at Lucas Oil Stadium, the offensive line took control.

And running back Marlon Mack ran wild.

The fourth-year rusher took advantage of several huge holes for big runs, including a 53-yard touchdown run set up by the blocking of two-time All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson and reserve offensive tackle Le’Raven Clark.

A Colts offense that ranked seventh in rushing last season, then added running back Jonathan Taylor in the second round of the NFL draft, made a statement about its “Run The Damn Ball” Foundation.

“First of all, Marlon looked great,” head coach Frank Reich said in a Zoom video call. “There were some big holes there, but he did make a couple of pretty sweet moves. The offensive line got in a bit of a rhythm. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had a lot of physical periods where the defense has looked good and got the better of us in the run game. But in that second half, the o-line got in a good rhythm. We’ll see the film, but it sure looked to my eye and a little bit of highlights on the screen that we ripped off a couple of long runs right there.”

Until that juncture, the offense and defense had traded making noteworthy plays. Quarterback Philip Rivers completed his share of passes, but the defensive line got after him for some sacks, too. Defensive tackle/end Tyquan Lewis was a force in continuing his best camp in three seasons.

But offensive left tackle Anthony Castonzo and linebacker Darius Leonard conceded which side had the edge early on in that second half.

“Yeah, anytime you get going running the ball – I’ve said it many times before, but when you have backs who when you create a little hole, they can turn it into a big one, it feels great,” Castonzo said.

The only problem with those long runs, the Colts were working on down-and-distance situations. So unlike a real game, when the O-line could celebrate a score with Mack and come to the sideline for some water, the unit returned to the line of scrimmage for another play.

“I actually was joking with the offensive linemen on the sideline,” Castonzo said. “I’m like, ‘This is weird since we’re on a script.’ It’s like you can’t really get into that zone where you get things rolling because, ‘Oh, we have a 20-yard run. OK, come back it’s now second-and-eight.’ The actual rhythm is kind of tough to get into. I was joking with Marlon, too, when he broke off that huge run. I was like, ‘How many times do you break off a huge run for a touchdown, and then you have to come back and run the ball again (the) next play?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, I think I could have broken further on that one too, but I didn’t want to have to run all the way down and come back again.’

“It definitely feels good once you get running the ball and can get the running game going. I think you’ve heard all of our coaches preach about it – once we get the run game going, everything opens up.”

Leonard, who was his energetic self as “The Maniac,” gave credit where due.

“I’ve been saying this for the past couple years, our offensive line is definitely the best offensive line in the league,” the linebacker said.

And he emphasized the depth at running back, which also includes third-year pro Nyheim Hines catching passes out of the backfield, should make the Colts even more explosive in 2020.

“Now, we have a four-headed monster in the backfield,” Leonard said. “There are so many things we can do. There’s no telling what Nyheim is going to do. You don’t know where he’s going to line up at. You have Marlon Mack out here being Marlon – 1,000-yard rusher year-in and year-out. You have J.T. (Jonathan Taylor), who is phenomenal. He showed it throughout college and now he’s showing it throughout camp.

“Then you have J. ‘Will’ (Jordan Wilkins), who is a great back as well. With (wide receiver) T.Y. (Hilton) and those boys on the edge, our offense can be very scary and I definitely cannot wait for them to show it.”

(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)