INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard blames himself for another playoff miss.
So, he's promising to implement a different approach this offseason.
After hearing some team leaders complain publicly about the changes they want, Ballard responded Friday at his end-of-season news conference, telling reporters he'll re-evaluate his strategy in free agency as he tries to build a more competitive roster.
“I thought we were playing really good football at the end of last season, lost a tough game at the end to Houston, could have gone either way,” Ballard said. “So I said, ‘OK, we’re trending up' and instead of really creating competition throughout the roster and throwing new blood into the locker room, I said ‘We’re going to run it back.' That was a mistake."
It's an admission the critics have longed to hear for weeks, maybe even years.
Ballard repeatedly acknowledged Friday that the critiques are warranted. In his first eight seasons with the team, Indy has made the postseason twice, won one playoff game and no division titles.
Yet team owner Jim Irsay still opted to bring back Ballard and coach Shane Steichen while expressing his disappointment with Indy's four-year playoff absence in a letter posted Sunday night.
Five days later, Ballard sounded relieved to be getting another chance — perhaps his final opportunity to fix the mistakes of recent years.
“We've got to be better about making sure we identify the right free agents that can help this team to where it needs to go,” Ballard said. “Right now, we're not close. I'm going to make this really clear. Close is losing on the last play of the Super Bowl. That's close. Going 8-9, that's not close. We've got to own that. We are not good enough.”
Ballard's comments stand in stark contrast to what Steichen said Monday when he said he believed the Colts were close.
But if Ballard pursues free agents with more vigor than he has previously, he will have the full support of Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, a team captain, who has promised to personally recruit free agents to Indy.
Buckner also spent Monday calling out what he described as the worst defense he's played on with Indy. He accused some teammates of putting egos ahead of winning and said there were times the Colts' defense played more as individuals rather than as a unit.
Ballard agreed with Buckner's assessments, and the changes have already begun.
Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley was let go Monday night. On Friday, the Colts announced defensive backs coach Ron Milus and linebackers coach Richard Smith also would not return.
Also unclear is whether Indy has any interest in retaining five key defensive players who could become free agents in March — linebackers E.J. Speed and Grant Stuard, defensive linemen Dayo Odeyingbo and Taven Bryan and starting safety Julian Blackmon.
There were other complaints, too, over players being late to team meetings or injury rehabilitation sessions and whether those players were being held accountable as some former players such as punter Pat McAfee suggested. Ballard defended Steichen, saying he handled those issues internally.
“I don't agree with everything that Pat said. I don't,” Ballard said. “But there's some truth to it. Look, you can't fool players. You can't do it. So I tell our team all the time you can BS the media, you can BS your family, but you can't BS each other. Pat was a great player, he knows what it looks like (to be successful), so he saw the cracks. I tell our guys 'It's easy to voice the problem in public, but how about being part of the solution? That's what we need.”
And, presumably, that's what Ballard intends to find before players report to training camp in late July.
“There's got to be some stress, some real stress in that locker room and an uncomfortability that if I don't play well, that if I don't play well enough, my (butt) is not going to be on that field,” Ballard said. “That falls directly on my shoulders. It's a lesson. It's a crappy lesson that I've learned.”
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Michael Marot, The Associated Press
