Super Bowl Bits … Indianapolis Colts
PEYTON MANNING ON PRE-SNAP ADJUSTMENTS AND AUDIBLES: “It is a little bit of a controlled chaos out there. We are all just trying to get on the same page. We don’t huddle so we do make calls at the line of scrimmage. Obviously, if we huddled we probably wouldn’t have to do so much at the line of scrimmage. I feel we are at our best when we are not having to make all those calls and we can just get up and run the play that we called. I still think whatever happens before the snap is not as important as what happens post-snap. The actual execution of the play. Just because we might change a play or signal something new or point at somebody that doesn’t have anything to do necessarily with the success of the play. It is about can you block them, can you get open, can you get the ball to the open receiver. For the most part this season our post-snap execution has been solid and that is what has been the most important.”
MANNING ON HIS PLAN FOR THE NIGHT BEFORE THE GAME: “For me three years ago, you certainly try to make it as normal a night as you can. Actually, I do remember I went to bed at 11:00 that night. I woke up at 11:00. Slept twelve hours, believe it or not. I was feeling pretty good until I opened my curtain and saw that monsoon outside Miami. That sort of woke me up pretty fast as it was looking like that rain was there to stay. I certainly hope for that again. I hope for that kind of peaceful night of sleep again this year. I think that is important. Sunday does become somewhat of a long day. The advice that I got all week, especially Sunday, is not to turn on the TV on, don’t watch the pregame coverage. I was able to do that last year. I am sure I’ll study a little bit. I feel like at that point there probably won’t be much more film to watch. The hay will be in the barn.”
LB GARY BRACKETT ON THE RARITY OF HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (right) GETTING FIERY: “What you see is what you get. He’s not really a very emotional guy. He does get fired up during some pre-game speeches, he does get riled up. Mistakes are going to happen on the field. That’s something you know you’re just going to have to get better at. Off-the-field mistakes – he gets angry about that. That’s one thing at the Colts organization – we pride ourselves on how we handle and conduct ourselves off the field, taking care of all the little things and making sure our names are not in the newspaper for something destructive. That’s when he gets a little upset and frustrated – when guys are not adhering to the rules we set for ourselves and conducting ourselves off the field.”
G RYAN LILJA ON PLAYING IN HIS SECOND SUPER BOWL AFTER COMING INTO THE LEAGUE AS AN UNDRAFTED FREE AGENT: “I just wanted to play football, play professionally and see how long I could play. You make your goals as you go on. Coming out, obviously I was not a Peyton Manning, knowing that you want to break records, be All-Pro, win a Super Bowl, those type of things. Your goals are smaller, more attainable for a guy who is undrafted. You come in and say, ‘OK, I want to contribute on this team.’ I want to make a team, I want to contribute, I want to play, I want to start, I want to be a solid player on the line. Then you go from there, and it goes by. This is the end of my sixth year in the NFL, and it just flies by. Even with rough years like last year, it just goes by so fast. It’s tough when you’ve got to look back and think, ‘Wow, this has been a heck of a journey for me.’ It just seems like yesterday we were back here for the first one.”
C JEFF SATURDAY ON OFFENSIVE LINE ADJUSTMENTS: “I think you consistently talk about what happened and why it happened. I think one of the best parts of the offense is the amount of accountability guys have. If it was their job or their responsibility, they are the first ones to say, ‘I blew it. I should have gotten this or should have done it this way.’ Being able to talk through that and feel comfortable to do that has helped us be better. Telling each other what they saw or how they saw it really helps a lot. These are great defenses. They blitz from everywhere, they are balanced, and you can’t tell [what they are going to do]. So you are going to make mistakes and none of us are perfect. None of us have done this for so long where everything is easy. So when bad plays do happen, we talk about it and try to correct it the next time we see it again. Let’s talk about it again and let’s get it squared away.”
S ANTOINE BETHEA ON THE COLTS SUCCESS FINDING STARTERS AMONG CASTOFFS AND LOW-ROUND DRAFT PICKS: “Well, Bill Polian, I guess he has a good eye for that, bringing people into this system and just believing in their abilities. With myself, a sixth-round pick, Melvin Bullitt – I could keep going on and on about, like you said, guys who other teams overlooked in free agency, late rounds. But once, I guess, everybody gets into the system, the organization just believes in them. I don’t know what it is and how they do it and what they see in the players that the other teams don’t, but it’s just something that he has a knack for and everybody always talks about it, and I’m just happy that he picked me. Everybody’s going to have a different story. Everybody can’t be drafted (as a) number one pick or in the first round. Everybody’s going to have their own story, and I think all those guys, they have their own, including myself. And I think just coming into the league, that’s all I asked for was an opportunity. If somebody gave me an opportunity, I’ll show them that I can play in this league, and I believe that the rest of the guys have done the same thing.”
