Colts embracing ‘next man up’ mentality under Shane Steichen
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Colts continue to find ways to win football games.
The Blue and White sit at 8-6 entering Week 16, having won five of their last six games including a 30-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday.
In that game, the Colts lost their top wide receiver in Michael Pittman to a game-ending concussion in the first half, as well as their leading rusher in Zack Moss with a first quarter forearm injury.
This after already losing quarterback Anthony Richardson for the year and All-Pro running back Jonathan Taylor for the last few weeks.
Despite these injuries, Colts Head Coach Shane Steichen had the rest of the team ready to rally and come back from a two-touchdown deficit in the Steelers game.
“(The team is) not flinching,” Steichen said. “We’ve had some games where we got down. Against Pittsburgh it was 13-0… The Rams game we were down 23-0. What are you going to do about it? Guys step up, make plays and it can turn like that.”
Wide receiver D.J. Montgomery and running backs Trey Sermon and Tyler Goodson spent the majority of this season on the Colts practice squad, but all three stepped up big when called up to the gameday roster on Saturday.
Montgomery caught two passes for 48 yards and a touchdown, while Sermon and Goodson combined for 157 of the team’s 170 rushing yards.
Steichen loved what he saw from those unlikely heroes on Saturday.
“They don’t get a ton of reps during practice, but to know how to do it when they go into the game, and being prepared is a credit to those guys,” Steichen said. “Goodson has been doing a heck of a job for us all year on scout team, you saw his explosiveness, we got him up for gameday, had some things in for him and he makes a big play. Same with Trey (Sermon), the way he did it, the way he ran… those guys stepped up and that’s what this league is.”
In a league where injuries can instantly derail a season, Steichen’s Colts have adopted a ‘next man up’ mentality.
“You have to step up and make plays when your number is called,” Steichen said. “Sometimes you get a limited amount of opportunities and you have to go make the most of them and that is what all three of those guys did on Saturday.”
It doesn’t matter how big the injury is, the Colts just find a way to fill the void.
The Colts will return to the field on Sunday when they head to Atlanta to play the Falcons (6-8) at 1 p.m. EST.
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