INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Mandatory minicamp started for the Colts on Tuesday and will run for three days this week, through Thursday.

This is the first and only time this offseason that the full team will have mandatory team activities until training camp starts in July. So, it’s an important time for building chemistry. On top of that, Colts head coach Shane Steichen has a few other things that he’s focusing on this week.

“I think the message I told the guys, right, we’re about communication right now, energy, tempo, competing, and then really finishing strong heading into training camp, and these next three days are going to be big,” Steichen said. “We get walkthroughs in the morning. Practice in the afternoons will be big for our guys. So, we’re excited about that. I like where our team is at right now.”

This will be Steichen’s second season with the Colts, and he said he is excited and grateful for being a part of the Colts organization. But, he gave the credit to his players, saying they are the ones that make it happen on a daily and weekly basis.

Mandatory minicamp is important for Colts players as well for strengthening relationships, but it is just one part of the offseason.

“Not just these three days, just all of the offseason,” second year safety Rodney Thomas II said. “It’s all just building continuity, comradery, just building bonds, different things like that, just so when we go into Sundays, it’s just like we’ve been practicing all offseason. It’s just all routine and repetitive and we go out there and make it happen.”

News 8 Sports will have coverage from Colts minicamp throughout the week.

The Colts will kick off their season this fall on Sunday, Sep. 8 against the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium.