The Colts appear to be losing interest. Not long ago Colts coaches — low-key coaches, guys who wouldn’t say, “Wow, it’s really hot,” if they were standing on the sun — were saying of Carter: “Wow, he’s really good.”
At Anderson, vanilla-speaking offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton broke out the sprinkles and fancy flavors when he said: “Every day
(Carter) makes a play that makes you say, ‘Wow.’ ”
Head coach Chuck Pagano? When he gets good and fired up, he might say something vanilla. But this is what he said at camp:
“Very good problem to have,” he said. “Duron Carter was plucking balls off (defensive backs’) heads like they were peanuts.”
The “problem” Pagano was referencing: Competition at third receiver behind T.Y. Hilton and Andre Johnson. That’s where Carter, practice phenom, was in Anderson: Competing with first-round pick Phillip Dorsett and promising 2014 rookie Donte Moncrief for major playing time.
Where Carter, game invisible man, is now: Competing with Griff Whalen, Ryan Lankford, Quan Bray and Vincent Brown to be the Colts’ fifth receiver on a roster that historically carries just five.
Because it’s like I wrote earlier: The Colts are losing interest. Carter returned several early kickoffs Saturday, looking better than in his one return against the Eagles, when he didn’t muster enough enthusiasm to look “tentative.” The word
tentative implies indecision, and on his kickoff return against the Eagles, Carter made his decision early: I don’t want to get hit.
Other than returns, Carter didn’t see the field at receiver Saturday until late in the third quarter. On that route, against reserve Bears cornerback Alan Ball, Carter couldn’t get open and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck was sacked and lost a fumble.
Carter played much of the fourth quarter with third-team quarterback Bryan Bennett, who has almost no chance to make the 53-man roster, alongside receiving targets with almost no chance to make the roster (Lankford, Swoope, Ezell Ruffin).
You are the company you keep, you know? And the most exercise Carter got on Saturday was the stationary bike on the sideline, riding it to stay loose.