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Frank Reich doesn’t hold the keys to the kingdom.

But as we take every item we can find that has even a slight connection to Peyton Manning and put it into the equations, Reich comes into play today.

He’s the Arizona Cardinals new wide receivers coach, which is the same position he had in Indianapolis last year after a term as the Colts quarterbacks coach.

Writes NFC West blogger Mike Sando: Arizona Cardinals owner Bill Bidwell “affirmed the team's intention to pay a $7 million bonus to incumbent quarterback Kevin Kolb, but his wording left open the possibility things could change." Bidwill cited rules against tampering in discussing Manning specifically.

“On Kolb and the bonus, he said this: ‘You sort of cross bridges as you get there, you know, but I wouldn't say we are going to deviate from the plan at this stage.’

“Hiring Reich only strengthens perceptions the Cardinals will pursue Manning if given the chance. Lots of other teams will likely have interest as well. Whatever edge Reich might offer will belong to the Cardinals.”

Clyde Christensen talked with the Indianapolis media Friday and I sifted through the piece of it the team shared.

A few things of note.

He was asked about helping Kerry Collins learn the whole playbook in three weeks.

“It would be impossible,” he said. “We have been working at a doctorate level around here because things have stayed so intact, scheme wise and quarterback wise. He is a veteran guy. You can’t throw up a concept that he hasn’t done some place, some time, somewhere. He understands football, so he understands those concepts. It is more the communication of it. It is more the protections. It is more of those things with him then it is him having to learn new things. He has seen it all, but it is just an awful short time so we will just kind of work to his pace, what he feels comfortable with.

According to Christensen, working both quarterbacks last week in the days that Manning practiced amounted to diluting the work for both quarterbacks.

“This week was a little bit easier just in the sense that we knew we needed to get Kerry ready to go and just adjust the best we can,” he said. “We have always had a thorough system. We have always done less and tried to do it better. So it helps when you try and do less. We are not overly [voluminous]. We know what we do so we just tweak it and everyone is going to have to kick in and help a little bit.”

Less is best seems to be a major theme, and it fits. People often think that what the Colts do is complicated. It’s not. Defenses always talk about how the Colts are straightforward on offense, they do specific stuff very precisely and well, over and over.

“Let’s error on starting smaller and you can always build up,” Christensen said in response to a question about Collins learning hand signals. “You can’t afford to go in there and it be a mess and not know what we are doing.”

One more item on the Colts’ offense…

I didn’t get to this earlier this week in the piece about Frank Reich and Tennessee’s Dave Ragone as quarterbacks-turned receivers coaches.

Jim Caldwell said this in our conversation about flipping Reich to wideouts and Ron Turner from receivers to quarterbacks:

“[Turner] has been a coordinator. It allows me to utilize Turner a little more. I like to keep him looking at things from a little broader scope.”

I couldn't decide if that was loaded with meaning or not. What do you think?

Nate Washington admits it. When the Titans receiver first heard that a quarterback-turned-assistant-coach, Dave Ragone, would be overseeing Tennessee’s wideouts, he had doubts.

“He might kill me, but yeah, I was a little skeptical at first,” Washington said. “I didn’t think negatively, I just didn’t know what to expect. It was, ‘OK, what is this guy going to bring to us?’"

It didn’t take long for Washington to gain an appreciation for his new coach. Ragone has brought new energy to a job that’s been a sore spot for a franchise that’s struggled at the position since relocating to Tennessee in 1997.

The Indianapolis Colts also have installed a quarterback at wide receiver coach, flipping Frank Reich to the spot in a swap that sent his predecessor, Ron Turner, to oversee quarterbacks.

It might not qualify as a trend yet, but in the AFC South, a lot of receivers are learning a great deal about routes and coverages through a quarterback’s eyes, something both teams say is a big deal.

“(Reich) knows what it is he’s looking for in the route, in the breaks, in the coverage," Indianapolis vice chairman Bill Polian said. “So, it gives the receiver a totally different perspective. It isn’t about necessarily running this route to get open against this guy. It’s about running this route in a certain way that allows the quarterback to get him the ball. It’s a sophisticated nuance and it’s important.”

Even early in training camp, Reich’s top guy, Reggie Wayne, was singing his praises.

Heading into a contract year trimmed down, Wayne asked Reich in their first interaction to coach him like a rookie. Now, he should be a key factor for Kerry Collins as he fills in for the injured Peyton Manning.

“[Reich] understands what’s kind of tough to do as a receiver and what’s not tough to do,” Wayne said. “A lot of coaches, they’re not able to display or give you that… Frank’s helped with my stance and starts. He talks to all the receivers about getting in a great stance and being able to come off the ball. He gave us a quote already, he said, ‘Plant the seed for speed.’ That stuck with me. He’s big on details and that’s good.

"“We’ve got to make him look good. That’s what it’s all about.”

Ragone throws a lot to his guys in Tennessee. He likes to show off he’s got a big arm.

“He throws more balls than the quarterbacks at practice,” said offensive coordinator Chris Palmer, who hired Ragone in the UFL.

Ragone prepared for his new role during the lockout with hours of research. The new coach read everything and talked to everyone, sifting through drills that can bring things out of a group that’s often seemed to sleepwalk. One that takes place after practice once in a while has receivers reaching with both arms around a goal post stanchion.

That comes from New England Patriots receiver Deion Branch, a teammate of Ragone’s from Louisville who offered it up a few years ago when Ragone asked Branch for his favorite drill. Players can’t bring the ball to their bodies, so they must concentrate on catching the ball with their hands while working on the strength of their fingers.

But it's more than just catching the ball. Washington and Kenny Britt both talked about a new sense of what exactly qualifies as being open that they have learned from a guy who played three seasons as a backup with the Texans and won an Offensive MVP award in NFL Europe.

“You can’t run the route any way you want to and be thinking that you’re right just because you’re open,” Britt said. “Sometimes it’s the timing of the play and it can really hurt the quarterback with how many steps to take and how many hitches he has to take before he throws the ball.”

Ragone looks forward to crossing paths with Reich, a much more successful NFL quarterback, when the Titans meet the Colts.

Will the two start a revolutionary movement of former quarterbacks to wide receiver coaching positions?

Let’s not jump on that, despite Matt Hasselbeck telling me “it would be very easy to do.”

First we need to see how receivers in Indianapolis and Tennessee do with the new tutoring.

“[Ragone] is leading us in the right direction and we’re getting to the potential that we could have been [getting to before],” Washington said. “It’s exciting right now.”

Alan Lowry, Steve Walters, Ray Sherman and Fred Graves are all good coaches. But Titans receivers under them have been an issue since the team moved to Tennessee.

Did those guys underachieve as coaches, have insufficient talent, or both? And are expectations of receivers unreasonable in a run-based offense?

All that is up for debate.

But new receivers coach Dave Ragone, a former quarterback who’s never coached receivers before, looks to be breathing a different sort of life into his guys so far. He’s far younger and more energetic than the four coaches who preceded him, and he’s showing a creative flair in coaching his guys. After one practice, receivers wrapped their arms around the goal post support, catching balls on the other side of it. Clever.

I think such change is very healthy. But I got excited when Graves arrived and had his guys catching bricks too, so my enthusiasm may be momentary.

Ragone also brings a cannon of a left arm.

“He’s got a Jugs machine tied to his arm,” second-year wideout Marc Mariani told The City Paper's David Boclair. “He takes pride in that. He thinks he can out-throw us and break our facemask or whatever.”

Balls are on receivers quick in practice periods when the coach is throwing, and they have to react quickly and show good hands. On the first day of practice he drilled a ball on the first throw of a period right off Nate Washington's facemask. Washington had to wipe it off before getting back in line.

Boclair accurately notes a major difference from receiver work during the Jeff Fisher regime:

"Seemingly every catch is accompanied by a whack from some sort of pad. Many throws are preceded by multiple cuts around a cone or a peak from behind a tackling dummy. Often, there’s little time to find the ball and react to it.

"'More than anything else, I hope what we do in those drills translates [to game situations] and helps them when they’re actually running their routes,' Ragone said. 'If they can’t see how it works and how it can help them, then it’s not going to be worth it to them.

'That’s more my goal … explaining why it makes sense.'"

I’ll revisit the idea of a quarterback coaching receivers after I visit with both Ragone and Frank Reich of the Colts.

For now, Ragone is definitely a guy to watch.

For months I’ve wanted to ask Jim Caldwell about the staff shuffle that prompted him to flip-flop Frank Reich (from quarterbacks to receivers) and Ron Turner (from wide receivers to quarterbacks).

Caldwell addressed it today at his pre-camp news conference.

“We made an adjustment with Ron going to quarterbacks and Frank going to wide receivers,” he said. “With that, my job is to look at the overall staff to see where things can be more efficient. That was a position in which both guys had been skill guys for the most part. But I also had to look at how we operate overall, and I thought we’d be more efficient making the switch there."

So it’s about efficiency.

Hopefully during camp, when we’ll be able to ask Turner and Reich and quarterbacks and wide receivers about it, we’ll be able to put just a little more meat on that bone.

INDIANAPOLIS -- If Colts officials were available to field any questions at the combine, like virtually every other team in the league does, the first thing I’d ask would be about the flip-flop of Frank Reich and Ron Turner.

The team took Reich, who was quarterbacks coach, and moved him to receivers, while taking Turner, who’d been with the receivers, and moved him to quarterbacks.

We are left to interpret without any explanation from coach Jim Caldwell, any reaction from Reich or Turner and any comment from Peyton Manning or Reggie Wayne.

Certainly the move was made either because Manning wanted it or because Manning bought it when it was brought to him. I’d expect even Wayne gave a nod.

Will Wolford, who does color for the team’s radio broadcast team, shared his thoughts Friday morning at the combine.

“It is unusual; I never saw it as a player,” he said. “I think they probably all got together and decided on, ‘What can make us a better team, top to bottom?’ Obviously they thought that was the move to make."

Wolford and I agree that Reich will have to do some winning over of the receivers, as guys at a position are inclined to be skeptical of a position coach who doesn’t have origins or experience playing and/or coaching the spot.

“But I’ve always believed that quarterbacks make the best coaches regardless of position just because they study the most when they are playing,” Wolford said. “A guy like Reich was so studious when he played and with the experience he’s gained now, no one knows more than what a wide receiver should think about than a quarterback. So it’s probably a pretty good move.

“I saw where the Tennessee Titans hired Dave Ragone, a former quarterback, to coach their wide receivers. I think there is definitely something to a quarterback taking over, teaching guys. ‘No, I don’t know the exact route to run, I can learn that. But I can tell you exactly what a quarterback is thinking on this play and where you should be.'”

Reading the coverage ...

Houston Texans

Where the Texans stand after nine years compared to other expansion teams, from Richard Justice.

Gary Kubiak talks to the team website about his new assistants.

The transcript of part 2 of a recent Rick Smith radio interview.

Indianapolis Colts

Ron Turner and Frank Reich are swapping roles, with Turner moving to quarterbacks coach and Frank Reich moving to wide receivers, according to WISH-TV.

Chris McGaha drove the country before landing a job with the Colts, says Phillip B. Wilson.

A look at the defensive ends with Stampede Blue.

Looking back at the first quarter of the 2010 season with Colts.com.

A look at the Colts' running backs, from Brett Mock.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars are giving club-seat owners a PGA perk, says Ashley Gurbal.

Tennessee Titans

Mike Munchak’s focus is now on the offensive staff, says John Glennon. Mike Tice could be in play.

It’s unclear if the Bears would grant permission for the Titans to talk to Tice, says Brad Biggs.

Glennon on Bruce Matthews, Kevin Matthews and nepotism. I see his points here. But on a broader scale, I am surprised at how many e-mailers and commenters I have who cannot see how, policy-wise, this is different than a Jeff Fisher-Brandon Fisher case.

Vision, not voice, will define Munchak, says David Boclair.

INDIANAPOLIS -- His neck is repaired and he’s been working with receivers since April. Now he’s leading the Indianapolis Colts through minicamp paces, intent on a return to the Super Bowl and a better big-game result.

How does Peyton Manning, the league’s first four-time MVP, get better for 2010?

Head coach Jim Caldwell has seen the process up close as a participant. He knows just the sort of meticulous deconstruction of the 2009 season Manning has done with quarterback coach Frank Reich in search of bullet points to concentrate on for 2010.

“He’s a very unusual guy,” Caldwell said. “Every year he kind of goes through this process where he and Frank will sit down and they’ll take a look at what he was able to accomplish last year, he’ll look at all his strengths and weaknesses. He’ll review every single snap of every game he played. And not just glancing over it, but I’m talking about detail. They’ll take notes of ever single throw, every single play call, every single check.

“And then from that he’ll go through it and then make a determination on where he thought he could improve on that setting. He’ll dissect his entire season that way and then he’ll set new goals for himself in terms of what he thinks he can accomplish. And he seems to certainly keep moving forward, each and every year you see he gets better… I don’t think there is any limitation on him, on what he can improve upon.”

How long does it take? A week? A couple?

“Months,” Caldwell said. “Plural.”

That’s not talk from Caldwell the rest of the NFL will be excited to hear, but it’s hardly surprising. Saying Manning is meticulous is akin to saying Santa Claus is overweight. Still, we don’t frequently get details of just how Manning goes about things, just like we don’t get readings from a scale at the North Pole.

I asked Caldwell about avenues for Manning to improve upon after Manning spoke at the media center podium at team headquarters Friday. I certainly wish I were getting the scoop from Manning. But odds are Manning, who’s super savvy with the media but not a big sharer with stuff that could ever qualify as state secrets, wouldn’t have offered much up on it anyway.

A lot of offseason morning meetings start at 7 a.m., he said, while suggesting his timing with pass-catchers always will be a big point of emphasis in this offense.

“The main thing I try to work on is the timing with these new receivers, Brody [Eldridge] who’s a new tight end here, Sam Giguere who’s healthy and obviously try to get even more sound with Pierre [Garcon], [Austin] Collie,” Manning said. “And everybody acts like this is the start. We’ve been here since April, we’ve been throwing. We’ve been working a lot on the field.

“I’ve had another good offseason with [Anthony] Gonzalez now that he’s back. Getting the timing down with all these young receivers, the more I can get on the same page with them the more we have a better chance at success.”

Clyde Christensen is the offensive coordinator now, with Tom Moore in a lesser role.

Manning has worked closely with Christensen in recent years. He’s been the coach who has been in charge of third-down situations and red zone plays, two excellent areas for the Colts. While some players will need to adjust to the change in coordinators, the switch won’t slow Manning down at all.

At minicamp practice, Manning looked like Manning.

In a breeze that was occasionally strong, the throws were crisp and precise whether the target was Dallas Clark or Dudley Guice. The quarterback’s conversations with a coach or player to the side during breaks were accented with points and hand gestures about patterns and positioning.

I’d never expect that Manning would decide he’s got it all under control.

But I do suspect it can get increasingly hard for very good players in any sport to find macro-issues to target this time of year. That’s why it’s so great when we learn that Kobe Bryant spent offseason time with Hakeem Olajuwon to become a better player in the post, and why details from Caldwell on Manning’s determination to be more accurate can be pretty interesting.

Before 2008, Manning’s tear-down of 2007 led him to a more intense focus on pass placement, according to Caldwell, who was the assistant working most closely with him then.

So what did that lead to?

“He works each and every drill in terms of placing the ball where he wants to place it and if he doesn’t hit it right on the spot, he’ll say, ‘Hey, let’s do that one again,’” Caldwell said. “He’ll repeat it. And for most people, the initial pass would have been one that would have been highly acceptable.

“But for him, it maybe wasn’t right on the pinpoint of the left shoulder. Or maybe it wasn’t at the right ear. He’s very, very precise in that regard, and I think that’s what makes him unusual.”

Anything Manning has discovered since then has also been layered into his private individual work with targets and sessions like today’s.

Reggie Wayne is absent in a contract protest. Upon his return, the group of Wayne, Garcon, Collie and Gonzalez gives the team a “chance to be as deep as ever” at the position, Manning said.

The draft class is supplemented by the return of Gonzalez and safety Bob Sanders from injury -- players Manning feels almost qualify as free-agent additions. Given those factors, the Colts seem like they’ll be in position to improve as they try to defend their AFC title.

But Manning emphasizes they’ve got to do the things to make it so, not rely on how it all looks on paper.

Notes from his season breakdown are on paper, too. It’s hard to imagine they won’t come to life on fall Sundays.

“He’s got such great presence of mind, such great will and determination that I think you will see him improve in almost every area,” Caldwell said.

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

Houston Texans

• The Texans need immediate impact from their first-round pick, writes John McClain.
• Sage Rosenfels didn't like Gary Kubiak's yelling. Alan Burge found a story that touches on it.

Indianapolis Colts

• Frank Reich tells Reggie Hayes that Peyton Manning wants to be coached.
• Not missing in the first round has been a big part of the Colts' success, says Mike Chappell.
• No. 14 in John Oehser's list of the top 25 picks of the Bill Polian era.
• Undrafted rookies are a big element of how the Colts piece themselves together, says Colts.com.
• "Good players -- no matter the position -- drafted for their ability will help a team more than average ones drafted for need." Colts.com looks more at Polian's draft philosophy.

Jacksonville Jaguars

• In case you missed this, Pat Yasinskas talked with Mike Peterson about a fresh start in Atlanta.

Tennessee Titans

• Kyle Vanden Bosch says the Brady Rule won't change how he rushes the passer, writes Terry McCormick.
• A look at possible DBs for the Titans in the first round, from McCormick.

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

Houston Texans

• Ticket prices are going up, reports John McClain.

Indianapolis Colts

• Frank Reich's long tenure as a backup prepared him to work with Peyton Manning, says Phillip B. Wilson.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Nothing today.

Tennessee Titans

• Toni Monkovic takes a look at how Jeff Fisher-style continuity works but people keep firing coaches anyway.
• Jim Wyatt's weekly Titans Insider suggests Jim Schwartz will go after Titans assistant special teams coach Marty Galbraith.

Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky

Jim Caldwell accomplished his first goal in interacting with the media as coach of the Indianapolis Colts.

"To the media, I have one goal today and that is just to make certain that my first press conference isn't immortalized as one of those beer commercials," he said to laughs Tuesday. "But I do look forward to working with you. I understand the importance of what you do and I will assist in that endeavor."

If Caldwell someday follows Dick Vermeil, Jim Mora, Dennis Green, Mike Ditka or Brian Billick into a Coors Light commercial, it's not going to be as a result of anything he said Tuesday.

That good line came after he affirmed his other commitments:

What I want to say first of all to the Colts organization, I commit to enthusiastically represent this organization in a first-class manner with humility, compassion and persistence. To the players and coaches I commit to creating an atmosphere that is conducive to success. When they approach the complex they can expect an open-door policy with every ounce of my energy to make certain that they have a sense that when you come here, you have an opportunity to get better. To the loyal Colts fans that live and die with us each and every week, I commit that your team will continue to play fast, smart and physical. To the National Football League I commit to protect the integrity of the game on and off the field.

I found it interesting -- and yes, Dungyesque -- that as he posed and answered the question of who he is, he identified himself first as a son, a brother, a husband, a father and a grandfather, not as a coach.

Caldwell didn't delve into his intentions regarding the staff or other potential changes, and he may not know exactly what he'll do in those areas yet. But he did say some assistants "are being pursued by other organizations" and that Frank Reich, who was an offensive assistant this season, will take over the role of quarterbacks coach.