WESTFIELD, Ind. – There was no better time for the offense to put its best foot forward.
“I was getting tired,’’ Michael Pittman Jr. said.
Wednesday evening’s joint training camp work with the Arizona Cardinals was winding down at Grand Park Sports Campus. It was the final 11-on-11 session for the Anthony Richardson-led offense against the Cardinals’ starting defense.
First and 10 at the Indy 25.
Do something.
The Colts did precisely that: six plays, 75 yards, a touchdown pass to Pittman that covered roughly 40 yards against tight coverage.
“I’m glad we could just throw a touchdown to end it,’’ he said.
Shane Steichen was impressed with his offense’s closing kick.
“It was awesome,’’ he said.
Richardson kick-started the drive with a run-pass option fake to Jonathan Taylor that saw Richardson rip off a 20-yard gain.
Then, a 7-yard run by Taylor, an incomplete pass, a 15-yard pass to Taylor that converted a third-and-3, a short completion to Pittman, and finally the lightning bolt down the right sideline.
“When you can score, go 75 yards in six plays like that, that’s what you want to be,’’ Steichen said. “You want to be explosive like that. Guys were operating at a high level on that series.’’
Initially, Pittman warned that video review probably will reveal a wart or two on the quick-strike drive.
“I’m sure we’ll find things that we all did wrong,’’ he said. “But it’s never really that good. You think it’s good, then you get in film and it’s like, ‘Missed split. You didn’t run fast enough. Wrong spot.’ So we don’t want to feel too good about it because we’ve got to come out tomorrow and practice hard.’’
Steichen indicated the video will reaffirm the efficiency of the possession. Often, it’s hard to gauge that in a training camp setting, joint practice or not.
“Yeah, no doubt,’’ he said. “It’s definitely a confidence booster. I mean, you go out there against another opponent . . . you’ve been going against our defense, back and forth, and to go against another defense and have a drive like that is really good to see.’’
The Richardson-to-Pittman closing TD was a recurring theme as the offense clearly enjoyed the upper hand. They were in sync all evening.
Twice in one-on-one work, Pittman ran a deep fade to the left and beat a Cardinals’ cornerback, including rookie Delonte Hood on the second.
On the touchdown, Pittman got a step on starting corner Sean Murphy-Bunting and ran under Richardson’s perfect pass.
“It was awesome,’’ Steichen said. “They’re in cloud coverage and Pitt got around (Murphy-Bunting) and the safety was inside and (Richardson) laid it in there perfect in stride.’’
For the evening, Richardson was 6-of-8 with the one TD in 11-on-11 work. Not surprisingly, he was better in 7-on-7 drills: 11-of-12.
“It was overall good by the offense,’’ Steichen said.
He was especially pleased with the big-play moments. During the offseason, the coaching staff spent extra time trying to determine how best to boost that element of the offense.
“I think there’s a lot of potential,’’ Steichen said. “We did a deep dive in the offseason, just trying to look at more explosive (plays), try to be more explosive in the pass game obviously with the weapons that we have and adding AD (Mitchell). You kind of saw that come to life a little bit today.’’
Quiet Saturday?
Steichen is expected to follow the same preseason blueprint as last year. With the starters getting heavy work in the two joint practices with Arizona, there’s every likelihood they won’t play Saturday against the Cardinals.
In a Wednesday appearance on 107.5 The Fan prior to practice, general manager Chris Ballard added the starters probably will play at least a half in the Aug. 22 preseason finale at Cincinnati. The Colts and Bengals have a joint practice next Tuesday in Cincinnati.
Hall of Famers in town
Two of the Colts’ all-time players, both members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, were on hand Wednesday: running back Edgerrin James and wide receiver Marvin Harrison.
Harrison obviously was at camp to watch his son, Marvin Jr. The younger Harrison was selected No. 4 overall by the Cardinals.
At one point, Harrison autographed mini-footballs and tossed them into the stands.
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.