2025 Indianapolis Colts Training Camp Journal: Practice 2

The second day of camp saw some of the day one rust knocked off as installation slowly but surely ramped up.

Westfield, IN — The second practice of Colts training camp was a scorching one. Hitting 90+ degrees Fahrenheit in the morning was nothing to scoff at, and a subsequent rest day for the team’s biggest veterans showcased just that.

This slow but sure ramp-up for installation in all three phases (offense, defense, special teams) was apparent in this short but sweet practice. The two quarterbacks vying for the starting job had better showings than yesterday, though plenty remains to be ironed out.

As alluded to yesterday in my first article of my training camp journal series, I spent today’s individual period focused on the offense. Before doing so, I made sure to check out the defensive linemen in warm-ups to get a better look at how defensive end Samson Ebukam is progressing from his Achilles tear that kept him out of the 2024-25 season.

Here are my notes from Thursday, the second practice of the Indianapolis Colts training camp:

• Rest day veterans and their replacements — A rest day on the second day of training camp has resulted in many fans scoffing at the mere idea of it all; however, those in question are among the most valuable and highest-risk. Perhaps this is GM Chris Ballard and Co. doing what they can to ensure their best players are healthy for the season, though Ballard himself did say that these practices will be among their most intense. I understand the concerns surrounding what seems like hypocrisy, but I, too, am trying to make sense of it.

Regardless, the veterans who had rest days and their replacements are as follows: DeForest Buckner (Neville Gallimore), Kenny Moore II (Justin Walley in slot, JuJu Brents on outside), Zaire Franklin (Joe Bachie), Braden Smith (Jalen Travis), and Tyquan Lewis.

• QB Competition — As mentioned, both Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones had better days than the first practice. Neither were perfect, nor did they have career-altering showings, but each limited mishaps they made yesterday.

Richardson, in particular, had the best jump from day one to day two. It started in the first team period of the day, which was a 7-on-7 session. Taking the starting reps in this first session, Richardson and Co. started strong. The offense went 4-5 through the air with a drop from Laquon Treadwell, and all four completions came in the underneath game.

Aside from the RPO-centric team period, which I’ll cover in the next section, there were two additional 11-on-11 periods. The first of which was focused on first and second down calls that were comprised of three plays: a completion to Jonathan Taylor in the flats, an impressive pass-and-catch through traffic to Michael Pittman Jr., and a difficult throw on the run that was bobbled and incomplete to Laquon Treadwell. The final 11-on-11 period for Richardson featured him with the second team. Began with a shot up...