Shane Steichen: Colts' Training Camp 'Will Be a Little Different'

The Indianapolis Colts will report to Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield, Ind., for training camp on July 22, and right off the bat, head coach Shane Steichen said fans and observers should expect to see some changes from how camps were run in the past.

“Last year, we did a walkthrough on day two, right? There's a ramp-up period," Steichen said. "(This year) we're going to practice on day two. There'll be different situations, sudden changes in practice. We'll have live periods with the threes. So, we're going to do some different things.”

The Colts have missed the playoffs in each of the last four years, but have mostly been close, including a 17-17 record in the last two seasons with Steichen as the head coach. With these changes this summer, Steichen wants to expose his team early to things he felt they may have been able to handle better last year.

“I just think, obviously, you go through little details on what you need to get better," Steichen said as to the thought process behind the changes. "I think, like last year, sudden-change situations for us, playing complementary football, we've got to put those guys in those situations. So, those are the things I studied and looked at that we need to get better at this year.”

Training camp in general will have a different feel for both the teams and the fans. The team has become accustomed to leaning further into joint practices during training camp over the years, often sharing a pair of consecutive practices, and even holding joint practices with multiple teams.

Although the Colts will have joint practices with both the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers this summer, Steichen said it still won't be quite the same as before.

“The practices will be a little different. You'll see some different things in practice," Steichen said. "Obviously, we've got the joint practice Week 1. Never done a Week 1 joint practice before a preseason game, so we got that against Baltimore. And then obviously, Week 2 against Green Bay. They're coming to our place.

"And sometimes we do two joint practices with teams," Steichen continued. "We're just doing a single joint practice with Baltimore, a single joint practice with Green Bay. And then that third preseason game, sometimes the last two years we've had those joint practices. We're not going to do a joint there, but it'll be good. There'll be different situations that you guys will see when you're out there, but it'll be exciting.”

Any time the Colts make adjustments to training camp, the elephant in the room is that they're trying to snap their knack for opening-week losses. Every team wants to win every week, but the Colts in particular have not won in Week 1 since 2013, which spans 11 years.

“Yeah, I think a little bit is," Steichen said when asked if the Week 1 streak plays into the changes. "Obviously, games are won and lost a lot of times in these fourth quarters. They come down to one-score games. So, I think we've got to be in great conditioning going into the fourth quarter, especially early in the season.”

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