Desperate times

Desperation for depth along the offensive line has forced the Colts to poach tackle Bradley Sowell (6067/309/5.22pd in 2012) from the Bucs' practice squad.

You may recall that Sowell had the dubious distinction of replacing folk hero Michael Oher at left tackle for Ole Miss. That, and a penchant for looking like he wasn't always playing hard, made him a whipping boy for Ole Miss fans for his entire career there. But, in truth, Sowell isn't a bad prospect. Like most of the rest of the Colts' linemen, he's a much better pass protector than he is a run blocker. And, sadly, he also appears to be missing the same mean streak as most of the rest of the Colts' big fellows.

If he has to play this season, I think Sowell will be sorely overmatched, as would most rookie left tackles. But he has enough potential to be a pretty decent swing backup.

A further indication that the Colts need depth on the line is the fact that they re-signed center AQ Shipley (one of the two guys cut to make room for Sowell and potential Sunday starter Trai Essex) to the practice squad. To make room for him, they dumped DJ Johnson, one of the several dozen corners they traded for in the offseason.

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The injury list looks pretty grim:

• As we all knew WLB/WILB Pat Anger is out. Jerrell Freeman will play in his place. He's a step down, but not a terrible option.

• LG Joe Reitz is out. There will be a three-way battle to replace him among Seth Olson, who stepped in last week and was horrible, Jeff Linkenbach, who lost the job to Olson in preseason, or Essex, who was just signed the other day. My money is on Essex — who is arguably more accustomed to the Colts' offense than the other two — unless he's a few bags of Doritos over the limit. Then it'll be Olson.

• RDE/WOLB Dwight Freeney is out. That's a tragedy. Next on the depth chart, as we all know, is the outlaw Jerry Hughes. Neither he nor Mario Addison looked anything like NFL pass rushers in Game 1, and Justin Hickman, the other option, didn't play on defense. No matter who plays, I would not expect much.

• WR Austin Collie's participation is up in the air again. I would err on the side of safety, and — with TY Hilton looking healthier — I think the Colts may actually agree.

• On the plus side, it looks like RT Winston Justice is back.


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I'm running short on time, but I promised a look at the secondary's performance against the Bears.

• Jerraud Powers: Hindered, perhaps, by the poor pass rush, Powers was no better than okay, allowing a number of completions in front of him, and playing to avoid being burned. He was a non-factor in the run game.



• Vontae Davis; He was tragic, allowing two touchdowns and all but one of the passes thrown his way top be completed. He was nearly as bad against the run, missing a clean tackle.


• Justin King: Aside from being flagged twice, King stood up admirably in coverage.

• Cassius Vaughn: Came in for a single play and was flagged for pass interference.


• Antonie Bethea: Had his hands full taking care of other people's mistakes, and did not grade out any better than average. He also blitzed ineffectively.



• Tom Zbikowski: It's funny, people love him in run support and are leery of his coverage abilities, but in Game 1, he graded out well in coverage and not so great against the run.


• Joe Lefeged: Ran around for six snaps, didn't do much good or bad of note. I guess he added a little containment on running plays.