| Colts QB Andrew Luck has struggled on the road so far this season. (US Presswire) |
It has been a struggle away from home for the Indianapolis Colts, and interim coach Bruce Arians is not in the business of denial on that front. Arians said Wednesday that the Colts -- who are 0-2 on the road, losing to the Jets and Bears by a combined 76-30 -- need to go above and beyond their normal call of duty when playing away from the friendly confines of Lucas Oil Stadium.
"We’ve got to do more than our job." Arians said. "Doing your job doesn’t win on the road. If both teams do their job, the home team wins. That’s just the nature of the beast. We’ve got to do more than our job. We’ve got to create some turnovers, we’ve got to protect the football. We’ve got seven turnovers on the road and one takeaway."
Rookie Andrew Luck has been the main source of those road turnovers -- which is to be expected of a first-year quarterback. In two road losses, Luck has just one touchdown pass against five interceptions.
"I wish I had all the answers," Luck said. "I think maybe a little more focus. We’ve got to find a way to substitute the energy we get from our home crowd, figure out how to get that same energy from an away crowd, or how to create that. Just attention to detail. Realize it’s a football field, same amount of players on the side of the ball, same plays. Just a little more focus.”
Working in the Colts' favor on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, though, is that they won't be facing the caliber defenses they faced in Chicago and against the Jets. Plus, it's the third time they're away from home -- they aren't new to this anymore.
"This one is another challenge but it’s not as difficult I don’t think because we’ve been there now," Arians said. "We’ve got experience at it. We should be better at it, not to take anything away from the Titans. They’re an excellent team but we should be better at it and we should know what to expect. We’ve got to create more plays."
NT Chapman returns: Rookie nose tackle Josh Chapman has finally been activated to practice with the team. Chapman has been sidelined since the beginning of preseason trying to strengthen his oft-injured knee. The Colts will have three weeks to decide if Chapman will remain on the non-injury/reserve list for the rest of the season or if he will be moved to the active roster. That all depends on how the knee responds, and Chapman seems confident.
“It’s real strong," Chapman said. "There’s just things they have to work on day-by-day, week-by-week.”
DE Freeney on RB Johnson: Colts DE Dwight Freeney -- who did not practice Wednesday due to his high-ankle sprain -- did discuss what it was like trying to keep Titans RB Chris Johnson under wraps.
“Chris has always been a challenge," Freeney said. "He’s a guy with Barry Sanders type of game-breaking ability. He’ll have 10 runs that you stop him and then all of a sudden, all he needs is one and that one is big. It’s going to be important that guys collectively, on each and every play, stop him.”
For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis from Colts blogger Evan Hilbert, follow @CBSColts.