Jack Doyle - , colts Event: Podcast | Date: 2026-09-17 | Full transcript (primary source).
Jack Doyle spoke at a press conference for the Indianapolis Colts on September 17, 2026, as part of the Jack Doyle podcast. The discussion focused on the team's performance following a challenging Week 1 loss to the Baltimore Ravens and their upcoming matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Transcript
Unknown: a 17 game season, right? And you don't want to hear that right now because of the way we've won. But yeah, you got to remember, you got to have cooler heads, got to prevail in and knowing that it's a marathon, not a sprint. You know, we go out and it looked the other way and then, you know, we've fallen apart late. Like we don't want that either. So it's, it's finding that balance.
Taylor: Welcome back Colts fans. This is season two, episode two. It sounds like the Star Wars trilogy or something right there. I'm Matt Taylor with Jack Doyle. We are back on the Jack Doyle podcast. I'm the Matt Taylor equation of things with number 84 here to my left. And thanks for coming back on a Thursday, getting ready for week two of the NFL regular season, recapping things that didn't start off so well. Let's be honest for the Indianapolis Colts. Week one, a very forgetful performance against the Baltimore Ravens as the Colts are 0 and 1 after a 41 23 setback to Baltimore at Lucas oil stadium. And now they get ready for their first row test of the season and a test. Indeed, the Kansas city chiefs who were six and 11 last year, looking like they are able to bounce back in a big way. They had a huge Monday night win over the Denver Broncos. Jack attack. Welcome back, man. How are you?
Doyle: Yeah, I'm doing well, Matt. How are you?
Taylor: I'm good. I'm good. And ready for football, ready for things to come back to normalcy for the Colts, because I think the Colts, and we have a lot to get into, but just big picture. I think the Colts are much better than the team we saw in week one. How disappointed were you with things right out of the gate? Just from a broad view of things.
Doyle: Yeah, it's frustrating, right? I mean, we talked about a little bit last week and, and talking about week one and how much it means, how much it shows your team. But, but you know, you know, you don't want to overreact to week one, win or lose, but it was definitely frustrating to see, to see that kind of start and the let down that, that, you know, it was across the board, right? It was all three phases that, that have things they need to improve on and correct. So yeah, definitely a frustrating Sunday, but the week by week league, we got to be ready to move on.
Taylor: Yeah. By the way, before we go on further, the Jack Doyle podcast every week delivered by little Caesar's proud partner of the Indianapolis Colts. You can get 15% off your order of $15 or more on Colts game days this season. You can do that on Sunday night, watching the Colts and the chiefs use promo code Colts 15 C O L T S one five at the online checkout terms and conditions may apply little Caesar's pizza pizza baby. I mean, maybe that'll kind of drown your sorrows a little bit after week one. I mean, it's always pizza pizza always hits, right? Especially when it's little Caesar's man, that's really good stuff.
Unknown: Okay. So, uh, you know, that, that line from what movie is it? Uh, I think it's anchor man. Like you're a, you're a 2000s guy like me, like, oh boy, that escalated quickly. Like, you know, like when the, when the, uh, news anchor teams are fighting there in the, uh, in the alley, that's kind of how it felt like for the Colts that escalated quickly. They get off to the great start six to nothing, but then here come the Ravens and they dominate the Colts ripping off 28 consecutive points. We'll talk about the nitty gritty of the game. Obviously the run game, uh, for Baltimore was on fire as a flowers was on fire. But when you, when you walk off the field, Jack, because this podcast is about you as a former player here, when you walk off the field and you get dominated like that, losing by 18 points. And honestly, I don't even think the game was that close. Let's be real. What's the locker room like after a game like that?
Doyle: Yeah, I mean, you're, you're just, you know, you have a, you have a pit in your stomach, right? I mean, you, all this buildup for week one and all the work you put in as a group, right? All through training camp. And then it's for it to go that way. It's just, you know, it's just so frustrating, right? And you, you try to, you know, build guys up and, and, and hold guys accountable and finding the right, you know, balance and, and doing both those things. And, yeah, it's just, I can distinctly remember, you know, having a game that, you know, went that way as a player and just the pit in your stomach. And, you know, you kind of just want to go crawl and crawl into bed.
Taylor: What game was that?
Doyle: Oh geez. Work where we go with this. I mean, unfortunately, the game that comes to my mind, I don't know if that's where you're going, but we have week one, 2017.
Taylor: Oh, yes. At the Rams.
Doyle: Yes. And yeah, that wasn't good. That wasn't going one good either. Sorry. I don't mean to steal your thunder. We kind of had a good first drive kind of, you know, similar and then the wheels kind of fell off. But yeah, you just, you just never want to start week one that way. Like I said earlier, like you, you, you don't want to put too much weight into week one, but it naturally gets that from the preparation you have, the amount of time you have and all the work and the buildup from the fans, the excitement around it. It's just, it really stinks when it, you know, it goes that way.
Taylor: All right. So it's Thursday when this podcast comes out, it's Thursday. So at this point of the week, it's different. Your mindset today is completely different than it is Sunday night, Monday or Tuesday before you sort of flip the page mentally before, you know, you get ready for week two, but let's go back to the early part of the week. I mean, what's the mixture? Is it frustration? Is it embarrassment? Is it anger? I mean, what, what goes through your mind when it comes to all the different, you know, phases of getting over a game like that, when you're like, man, we've got, we've got to fix this and we've got to fix it now.
Doyle: Yeah. It's all those, you know, like you go through stages and the thing is like, you know, it's a one o'clock home game, right? And you, you go home after the game, you feel all that, you feel the embarrassment, right? You feel the anger, you're extremely frustrated. Frustrated is what I would probably feel more than anything, but then you wake up Monday morning, you go watch the film, you're still kind of feeling that, but it's time to start working towards the next week, right? And you're starting to peek at Kansas city stuff and you're, you know, you're talking to guys and you're, you're figuring out ways that we can fix this. And so that, you know, this doesn't happen ever again, right? And so yeah, you're feeling all those emotions, but you, you, you really use the 24 hour rule, right? You hear somebody coaches say, you know, 24 hours after a win, 24 hours after a loss, you get to feel all those emotions on Sunday night, but then you kind of, kind of wash it away because no one's feeling sorry for you, right? It's time to go fix it.
Taylor: Again, I love this podcast because it's a former player's perspective after a game like that. Again, I know it's, it's only week one, but it's week one because of the way that the game unfolded and you can't overreact. You can't underreact either. Correct.
Doyle: Okay. So is there a need because there's a lot of urgency surrounding this season. There was a lot of work that I thought really good work that went into the season. And now, unfortunately, to start the year, it doesn't pay off. Is there a need for a players only meeting? How, how do those things start? How does it galvanize and what happens? Is it necessary in this case, in your opinion?
Doyle: Um, you know, I think, okay. So I'm thinking as again, thinking as a former player, you know, I, I'm sure the Colts, we always had some sort of leadership council or, you know, a group of leaders that got together. I think it's important for those leaders to kind of all express, there's probably eight, 10, maybe 12 guys on this, on this, you know, leadership council. I don't know if you need a whole team play, you know, whole team meeting, but those guys need to all speak and they all need to say what's on their chest. You got to kind of figure it out. I think how we're going to move forward, how we're going to carry ourselves, how we're going to hold guys accountable, what that's going to kind of look like. Again, I don't know about a whole team meeting yet, you know, it is week one. Like you said, you don't want to overreact, but you don't want to underreact, but as a leadership council, and I see, you know, back in my day when, when I was playing, we would get together and we would talk about it, right? And get things off our chest and things we can do to help fix this and, and, and get that sense of urgency that, you know, we thought was going to be there and it didn't look like it was there, honestly, when you watch the first game.
Taylor: So, so how do we kind of figure that out as a group, right? And, and, and as a team, but does that kind of, like you just said, I mean, is it kind of reset the urgency of the season? Hey, it's week one. We stubbed our toe big time. Now we got a cast around it, but now we got to go because guess what fellas, we're going to play on Sunday night football against the chiefs who look like they're the chiefs of old because Mahomes is back and they got the running game going. Now we'll talk about that more in just a second. But if, if we don't get this thing together, week two national stage, you know, the bright lights, we cannot get embarrassed like that again on a bigger stage.
Doyle: Right. And I, and the thing that comes to mind when you're saying that is, is yeah, the urgency is kicked up another gear, right? I mean, you just, you thought you had something, you thought it was going to go a certain way and it didn't, right? So how can we find that urgency without pressing, right? I feel like even watching this game, the past game against Baltimore, you saw, once it started kind of unravel, you saw guys pressing a little bit and trying to do too much and that's not what you need. You need urgency in your role, right? And not trying to do too much, not trying to fix all the problems yourself, but every guy holding themselves accountable to fix what they need to fix. And that's, you know, football is a team game. It's the most team game there is out there. So finding a way to, to fix your role and what you can do and trusting the guy next to you is going to do the same thing.
Taylor: All right. Well, let's go within, let's have the urgency within the urgency. All right. Let's go to the defensive side of the ball. I want you to react to some of these, uh, you know, statements and facts from, from week one. So the secondary for the Colts, they didn't Jack record a single pass breakup on Sunday. They allowed seven completions of at least 17 yards, three of at least 49. Obviously Ze flowers had 150 receiving yards in the first half, which for him was a career high and it could have been larger had it not been for his hamstring injury that kept him out of the game. The rest of the way, we know about Patrick Mahomes, not to get too nitty gritty, but Patrick Mahomes, since he's been in the NFL since 2018 leads the NFL in that time and big pass place, big pass completions over 25 yards. Last year in week 12, the chiefs had seven completions of at least 17 yards as well. I mean, the big, you know, worthy catches, you know, the, uh, the big, I think what's concerning to me, just watching the film, not as intently as someone like you does, but I mean, some of the crossing patterns that the Ravens used are the same routes that gave the Colts trouble. And that game against Kansas city last year, uh, which adds to the big, uh, big play allowed total. So what kind of urgency should the Colts secondary have? Because many thought coming into the season, Hey, this is going to be a strength of our team and to give up over 300 yards right away. I know it's Lamar Jackson. I know it's a flowers, but right away to give up that gaudy of a number to start the season, where's Jack Doyle and that urgency meter heading into week two.
Doyle: Yeah. You know, you're, you're talking about the crossing routes that, you know, we saw, like you said last year against Kansas city and then solve against Baltimore this past week. The secondary knows how they're going to get attacked. Like if you're playing man coverage, people are going to run crossers. So how can you find ways to, you know, from the coaching side, scheme that up to, you know, show man, and then we're in zone to confuse them when they're trying to run those deep crossers. Cause that's a tough cover. It is. I don't care how good you are to cover a guy. He's got 53 yards across the field that you got to cover and he's going, you know, 25 yards downfield. That's, that's a tough cover. So how can we do things to, you know, there's ways when you're playing one high to cut the safety on a certain side and, and to kind of undercut that there's ways to, to, to fix that as a scheme, but also the guys, they know they got to do better. Right. And again, I, I always come back to defense about being a team, right? It's everybody. It's not just, you know, the one-on-one battles. It looks that way, right? With the wide receivers in the corners that they're, you know, they are on an Island, but the safety's got to help them out. We got to get lined up. There was a few times in this past week in Baltimore where I feel like we're still, you know, it was a first game. So, you know, the communication and things like that, there was times we weren't even lined up at the snap of the ball. And it's like, you got no chance, man. You got no chance if you're rushing out there and trying to figure out what you're doing. And then here comes a flowers, full speed at you. Like, good luck. No one can do that. Right. So those guys, you know, they got to play as one. They got it. They got to get the communication, you know, figured out, but I trust those guys. I think that is going to be a strength of our team. And I think they'll get it figured out.
Taylor: How much do you chalk me staying within the secondary? How much do you chalk it up where AJ Halsey and Justin Wally are playing in their first NFL games?
Doyle: Yeah. I mean, I, I go back to the first snap in Baltimore and we weren't lined up. Like that's, that's frustrating. So here comes Wally who I, I think Wally's going to be a stud, right? I mean, he had a tough cover and it wasn't all him, you know, garden's a flowers this past, this past Sunday, right? He's not lined up on the first play because he's trying to get the call. He's trying to figure out where he's supposed to be. And then again, like I said, here comes a flower's full speed on a, you know, he runs that little in seven cut, you know, corner route. And it's like, he's got no chance. And that's his first snap. And then it felt like 49 yards, but I was proud of the way he kept coming back, kept competing. I think he's going to be a really good player for us. But you got, like I said, you have no chance when that happens and Halsey, you know, you know, it was, it was coming at him a little fast. It looked like sometimes, but again, he's out there competing. So I have, you know, I feel positive about the way he's looked in camp and the way it's going to come. But that first NFL game, we talked about it last week on the podcast and it comes at you fast and it doesn't, it doesn't slow down. It doesn't wait for anybody. It just keeps coming at you. But you know, if those guys have the right makeup to, to, to improve and to learn from it. And so yeah, I think those guys are going to be, be, be just fine.
Taylor: All right. Let's go up front then within the front seven on defense. I thought give credit to Baltimore. They did a really nice job. They knew what their weakness was, at least in the first game of the season upfront, they had a trio of new interior offensive linemen center in both guards. And they knew going into that game, it's probably not going to be in our best interest to run behind those guys. So Derek Henry has a vintage Derek Henry performance on the edges. I mean, he goes for, he runs for what, 140 yards and over a hundred of that, that this is the most frustrating part as a Colts fan, over a hundred of that total is yards before contact. That means he had over a hundred yards in this game before he was even hit in flag football. He would have had a hundred yards rushing. Yes. I mean, think about that. So, I mean, the Colts had a trio of, of new linebackers, Akeem Davis, Gaither, Jalen Carlize, Bryce betcher, um, no tackles for loss in this game, going along with what we said about the secondary with no passes, the fence in this game. So Jack urgency wise, tell me about the front seven. I mean, how do you describe the physicality upfront that the Raven showed Derek Henry running the ball. And again, like I said, Oh, by the way, the chiefs who are not known for this, but in week one, they ran for over 200 yards.
Doyle: Yeah. They look, the chiefs looked good on Monday night, running the ball, which is a scary thought going into this week. But you know, again, I come back to, we're, we're sticking with defense. You have to play as a group, right? And the front seven, the fits were a little off, right? Again, you don't want to make the excuse of first game and, and, and, you know, playing a bunch of snaps together. And you know, I've always been team, like you need to play more in the pre-season to kind of get it, get it figured out. Right. But I mean, that's just, that's just the way the NFL is now.
Taylor: Okay. Do you think that had an effect? I mean, does that, does that matter? Does it show up Sunday?
Doyle: I think it does. I do. In my, in my opinion, I'm personally, that's how I felt like I needed to get some reps in to, to, I mean, you're not like crazy, like overboard with it though. Like, Hey, we got to play a half of the game. It's a 17 game season, right? And you don't want to hear that right now because of the way we won, but you got to, you got to have cooler heads, got to prevail and knowing that it's a marathon, not a sprint, you know, we go out and it looked the other way. And then, you know, we've fallen apart late. Like we don't want that either. So it's, it's finding that balance. Right. But I think the run fits, just as a group weren't, weren't great. Obviously if, if a guy's not getting touched and you got a hundred yards, you know, before being touched, that that's not what you want. And it's figuring out as a group, how you get that fixed, right? And, and seeing how the D line is going to play, you know, speaking from a linebacker's perspective, seeing how those guys fit and getting a feel for how they fit. And, and you know, Baltimore's, that's a tough challenge, right? I mean, they have Derek Henry, one of the, I mean, he did something when he passed for like second most touchdowns, third, third most, third most at all times, like this, like this guy's, this guy's crazy good. But, but it's not good enough. Right. I mean, they know that the players know that the coaches know it. And it's, it's figuring out how to play together and play as one, because you're not going to take Derek Henry down just by yourself. It's got to be a bunch of hats to the ball. And, and again, I noticed the fits just being a little off.
Taylor: All right then let's go to the offensive side of the ball. We really don't talk much about this because it's been such a non-story now for about a month. And that's Daniel Jones's health. And he's shown a great deal of it coming off in Achilles, but Sunday in fact was just about nine months removed from that injury, about 280 days. In fact, it was exactly 280 days. You know, week 13, that gruesome scene in Jacksonville with a, with a lower body injury. So he goes 19 of 31 for 166, a touchdown, a pick, and, um, his yards per attempt number, which I know is kind of nuance for some fans, but that basically means how, how much the Colts were able to push the ball down the field and get some chunk plays. You want that yards per attempt number. And this is just a general statement, but you want it somewhere between seven and a half and eight. That's not, that's a nice healthy number, but the 5.4 yards per attempt number for Daniel Jones speaks to, Hey, the offense wasn't very explosive. Not many chunk plays. Um, there was only the one deep shot attempt to, to Alec Pierce. It was broken up by Marlon Humphrey, but that number from Daniel Jones was the lowest number of his Colts tenure, uh, in a Colts uniform. So lot, lots to unpack there, Jack, but obviously what, what did you see from, from Daniel? Just what do you think he looked like and how viable is his return from health, uh, for this team here going forward starting on Sunday night?
Doyle: Health-wise, I thought he looked good. Like, I mean, I'm, I'm so impressed. The fact that he's able to be back out there and, and, and again, Daniel probably wants some plays back and things like that, but he looks good to me for being nine months post-surgery post Achilles tear. Like it's, it's super impressive that he's out there, you know, early that, you know, that first drive looked great and they were getting them out of the pocket there on some play actions and things like that. And he was moving around. Um, so very positive to see the way Daniel was moving. Um, but to go to your yards per attempt, like, you know, I know the first, I would love to see just a go route to Alec Pierce early in a game. Like, I mean, I know Shane knows offense better than any of us, right? But, but I'd love to see, I'd love to see a shot and it doesn't even have to be completed. I know Pierce is coming off the ankle and, and he was asking, can you do that now? I, yeah, maybe, you know, maybe, you know, maybe that plays into it. I don't throw one to Ashton, you know, I would love, I would love to see a go route attempted early in the game. And I know that we came out and threw the ball, the first seven plays or something like that, right? To get Daniel on a rhythm and it looks great. Um, but I would love to see stretch the defense. It doesn't even have to be completed. Put someone out there. That's going to run a go route. Ashton, obviously you'd love for it to be pierced and he's going to go attack the ball. You know, he's not gonna let the ball be intercepted because those are guys that go, that go after it. Um, but I would love to see that just kind of open it up, right? And, and, and take the pressure off the underneath stuff. Cause we have some great underneath route runners, right? I mean, downs looked great. The first couple of third downs getting great separation. Keenan Allen's made a hall of fame career, maybe out of it. And then Tyler Warren's Tyler Warren stud. So, you know, we have, so finding ways to keep stretching the field and keeping the defense on their heels, I think would be a huge benefit.
Taylor: Well, whether it's Pierce or if it's Doolan early in the game, I mean, you know, I mean, don't, don't sell yourself short in terms of, of ball knowledge on offense. Sorry. But I mean, can this offense be as dynamic without that component of it? Um, I mean, can, can this offense be the same offense this year as it was last year when Pierce was healthy at the beginning of the season? Cause that was a big reason why they were getting the big shots, but also the threat of Pierce, like we've always said is a big reason why not the reason why, but it helps open up the intermediate part and the running game with Jonathan Taylor. And I think if you put some true serum into Shane stack and he'd say, yeah, just the Pierce effect, we kind of felt it a little bit.
Doyle: Yeah, you need it. And, and, and maybe even, I mean, we got down early. So the play action, deep ball kind of disappears. And you had poor field position.
