Mike James
The One... and the Two
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Registered: May 2003
Local time: 04:00 AM
Location: Rice University
Posts: 1191
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THE MAN TO WATCH
By John Oehser - www.Colts.com
Friday, September 5
Players Anxious to See James at Full Strength
INDIANAPOLIS – He is at full strength again. His knee is fully recovered, his body is fresh and to hear Edgerrin James tell it, he’s ready to play.
His teammates believe it, too.
They have seen glimpses of the former All-Pro in practice.
They have seen a few plays in preseason.
They have a feeling that James – who led the NFL in rushing in 1999 and 2000 – may again be the dominating runner he was before a 2001 knee injury.
Now, it’s time to see for real. And that time is Sunday.
“I’m curious to see if we’re going to run as well as I think we’re going to,” Colts quarterback Peyton Manning said as the Colts prepared for the 2003 season opener against the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Stadium Sunday at noon.
During the preseason, there were positive signs in that direction.
James, the fourth overall selection in the 1999 NFL Draft, played in two preseason games, but against the Denver Broncos in the third preseason game, he played extensively in the first quarter, rushing for 38 yards on seven carries.
That was his most extensive preseason action, but during that quarter, he ran hard and broke tackles. He also finished off runs, meaning he ran over tacklers and fell forward while being tackled. And to James, those are signs he’s running well.
Teammates saw the same signs – in the preseason games, but particularly during practices.
“I’m anxious to see it live, because he’ll just give you a taste of it in practice,” Colts veteran tight end Marcus Pollard said. “You’ll see flashes. You’ll see him do it, and just when he’s about to make a guy miss, he’ll just stop. Instead of running over the guy and trying to run around him, he’ll stop. But he knows.
“You see him joking with the defensive back or the linebacker. He’ll get ready to make a move and turn around and stop. Then, he’ll be laughing on the way back to the huddle, saying, ‘Yeah, I could have gotten you there.’”
James, after rushing for 1,533 yards as a rookie and 1,709 yards in his second season, rushed for 662 yards before the knee injury midway through the 2001 season. He returned last season to rush for 989 yards, but played through hamstring, rib and ankle injuries, as well as fatigue from rehabilitating the knee.
With reserve running back Dominic Rhodes out with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, the Colts’ running game dropped in effectiveness from the previous three seasons. After averaging nearly four and a half yards a carry from 1999-2001, the Colts average 3.6 yards a carry.
That not only hurt the Colts’ running game, it limited their ability to utilize the play-action pass, one of the crucial elements of the offense.
Manning said this week called reestablishing the running game a priority of preseason, and said “there’s no question we’re going to try to run the ball.”
Toward that end, the Colts rearranged their offensive line this off-season, drafting offensive guard Steve Sciullo in the fourth round of last April’s NFL Draft and immediately moving him into the starting lineup at right guard. That enabled guard Ryan Diem to move to right tackle, which gave the Colts substantially more size on the line.
“I’m extremely confident these guys can get the job done, and that’s all you can ask for going into it,” Manning said. “There’s definitely a difference from what you see in practice to preseason to regular season. When the lights come on, how do some of your young guys respond? There’s definitely a curiosity there and there are no guarantees, but it’s nice to have positive thoughts as opposed to saying, ‘There’s no way we’re going to be able to do this or do that.’
“It got to a point late in the season we were really struggling to do this or that, but right now, we’re very optimistic about our options. We’re excited about the options, but still, you have to go out there and do it and prove it.”
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09-06-2003 06:03 PM
