Colts coach Frank Reich on QB acquisition Matt Ryan: We needed each other

The center circle in Indianapolis Can’t go unnoticed The Colts are set to enter 2022 with the start of the fifth quarter-finals in many seasons.

The Colts are the only team in NFL history to have had 15 different QB starts with 15 games in four consecutive seasons, according to NFL research. Andy is on her way to extending that great stat next get Long Hawks QB Matt Ryanwho has not missed a game in 12 seasons.

Frank Reich, who has been the Colts head coach for each of those four seasons, believes Ryan is the QB to not only end the trend but also help take Indianapolis to the promised land.

“I think everyone saw on the outside that this fits right in,” Reich told NFL Network’s Tom Pellisero during an interview at the league’s annual meeting on Sunday. “Like, people can universally agree that you’ve got a guy who still plays at a high level with a team and a roster built to make some noise. We needed each other.”

Ryan wasn’t initially on the Colts’ radar then Commerce Carson Wentz told Washington leaders on March 9, according to Reich. As soon as rumors of Deshaun Watson landing in Atlanta surfaced, the Colts began formulating the idea of ​​acquiring the AP Most Valuable Player of 2016. Although Watson eventually Selection Cleveland Browns, the Colts continued their pursuit of Ryan once they decided he was a perfect fit.

“The first thing I look at is the accuracy that is still there and what the arm looks like,” Reich explained. “So I look at every throw from the last couple of years. Look at the speed of the ball, look at the length, look at the accuracy, look at the motor skills and I don’t see any decrease in physical skills.”

Ryan, who will be 37 by the time he starts training camp, was just 32 yards away from breaking the 4,000-yard mark for the eleventh consecutive season in 2021. With the All-Pro back in the back Jonathan Taylor Flourished into one of the NFL’s best ball carriers, a small group of broad receivers and a roster of seven professional players, he’s excited to see what he thinks will be a smooth transition into the Colts attack.

“I’m looking forward to getting deeper into this off-season with Matt, with our coaches,” Reich said. “It’s going to be 80 percent of what we’ve done in the past, 90 percent, but then there’s going to be tweaks. We’re going to look at all of his movies. We’re going to pull concepts that he’s done a lot in Atlanta and he’s been successful with. We’re going to hear how he thinks about these things, and how they compliment what we’re doing. with him, and then we’ll find ways to incorporate some of these things. Then I’m sure I’ll hear together a few short discussions with him, that we’ll make some things together. Some of them combine what’s old and what we’ve been doing, and yet there are still things to be made together. And I I look forward to it.”

The 2021 Colts season ended in disaster after a shock defeat week 18 To the Jacksonville Jaguars who won three wins effectively knocked them out of the playoffs. Reich sees a new day in Indianapolis with Ryan’s arrival, but he also believes experiencing such a heart-breaking experience will benefit them in the future.

“When the season ends the way we did, it will eat you up forever. It will never go away,” Reich said. “I’ve seen this over and over, not just in my own career, but you just look around in the history of the sport, this happens. It happens when you go through an epic meltdown or failure, and then it turns out to actually be the same thing that drives you to go to the next level. That’s what We think it and we think it’s going to happen in Indianapolis.”