ESPN NFL

A weekly examination of the Colts’ ESPN.com Power Ranking:

Preseason: 10 | Last week: 9 | ESPN.com Power Ranking since 2002

The five remaining undefeated teams are the only things standing between the Indianapolis Colts and a top-five ranking. So an argument can’t be made that the Colts aren’t getting any respect in this week’s rankings. I was a little surprised the Dolphins are ranked a spot behind the Colts since they beat Indianapolis on the road in Week 2. Voters John Clayton and Dan Graziano feel the same way because they had the Dolphins ranked higher than the Colts. The Colts are the fourth-best team in the AFC based off this week's rankings. They should move up even higher if they beat the undefeated Seattle Seahawks at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday. With a win against Seattle, the Colts should move past at least Kansas City because the Chiefs are playing Tennessee, which is without starting quarterback Jake Locker (hip).

Here’s where each voter ranked the Colts this week:

Ashley Fox: 6

Mike Sando: 6

Kevin Seifert: 5

John Clayton: 7

Dan Graziano: 8

Jamison Hensley: 6

An examination of five topics from the Indianapolis Colts’ 37-3 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Feeling at home: Colts nickelback Darius Butler is making Jacksonville a second home. Butler intercepted a Blaine Gabbert pass and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown on Sunday. The touchdown was the second in as many games in Jacksonville for Butler. He had two interceptions, a touchdown, a fumble recovery and two passes defended in the Colts' win at Jacksonville on Nov. 8, 2012. Butler was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in that game. “I’m originally from Ft. Lauderdale, so I guess it’s the Florida ties I have here,” Butler said, laughing.

A lot of carries, not a lot of yards: Running back Trent Richardson got his first start in place of the injured Ahmad Bradshaw. Richardson got a lot of carries (20), but he had a difficult time finding running room. He finished with only 60 yards rushing, with 12 yards being his longest run. Donald Brown rushed for more yards (65) than Richardson on 17 fewer carries. Richardson is averaging only 2.9 yards a carry. Bradshaw’s status for next week’s showdown against Seattle is uncertain. It’ll be interesting to see who coach Chuck Pagano starts if Bradshaw is ready to play. “I feel real good,” Richardson said. “I know the big run is going to come. I know I have to contribute more to the offense, but when it comes to the time where it’s play-action and they’re not touching [quarterback Andrew] Luck and our receivers are catching the ball, that’s also a good day for me.”

Continuing the winning ways: The Colts ended September with a 3-1 record and tied with Tennessee for first place in the AFC South. The Colts have a league-best 26-10 record in September games since 2003 -- one more victory in that span than New England and Seattle.

Pounding it on the ground: Richardson has gotten off to a slow start in his two games with Indianapolis, but that hasn’t stopped the Colts from continuing to be a balanced team. The Colts have rushed for at least 100 yards in all four games this season. The team record for consecutive 100-yard games to open the season is five. They can tie the record when they face a Seattle defense that is giving up 109 yards a game on the ground this season. The Colts are fourth in the league in rushing at 149.5 yards a game. The Colts have run the ball 121 times compared to 131 pass attempts. That's pretty balanced.

Reed finally makes his debut: Do you remember receiver/kick returner David Reed? It’s OK if his name doesn’t ring a bell. Reed was acquired for running back Delone Carter from Baltimore in training camp, but he spent the first three weeks of the season dealing with a concussion and quad injury. Reed finally made his debut Sunday. He returned two kickoffs for 45 yards. The goal is for Reed to be the team’s kick returner if he can remain healthy.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck didn’t need anybody to tell him how he played during the early part of the Colts' 37-3 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

He went ahead and owned up to it at the start of his postgame news conference.

“It wasn’t an ideal start,” Luck said. “It was more of a terrible start to the game offensively for us.”

Luck couldn’t have said it better.

It looked like Luck was going to have a long afternoon against the Jaguars.

On one interception, Jaguars cornerback Will Blackmon didn’t have to move because receiver TY Hilton went to the outside, and Luck threw to the inside. Luck was bailed out by the Jaguars because they were offsides on another interception. There were more miscommunication issues with Hilton in the half.

The two interceptions happened on the Colts' first two offensive series.

“It was the wrong throw for me,” Luck said. “TY ran the right routes and everything. I put it in the wrong spot. We know we can’t survive on our mistakes like that every week. I’ll hopefully improve, get better and we’ll continue to roll.”

You just knew Luck wasn’t going to struggle all afternoon against Jacksonville’s secondary. He finally got it going to finish 22-of-36 for 260 yards and two touchdowns to go with his one interception.

“Listening to him talk and talking to him, he did get off to a slow start, but he is an even-keeled guy,” coach Chuck Pagano said. “We go back to the process, 60 minutes, one play at a time, and judge. He is one of those guys who can put things behind him and move on.”

Luck got rolling on the first two offensive possessions of the third quarter. He found tight end Coby Fleener wide open for 31-yard touchdown on a play where it seemed like playing defense was optional for Jacksonville. Then Luck led the Colts on a 12-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne on their next possession.

“We know they’re tough physical guys, but coming out of halftime we said let’s put a scoring drive together,” Luck said. “I think guys sort of relaxed a little bit. I know I did, and just played football.”

Things were going so well for Luck in the second half that you forgot he started slow because he sat out the final 4:49 of the game, ending his string of taking every regular-season snap since the Colts selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in 2012.

“I think we knew we were a better offense than what we showed,” Luck said. “It’s a credit to Jacksonville. They really put us in some tough spots.”

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano had every intention of running to a local Lowes to purchase enough mousetraps to go in each player’s locker last week.

Pagano joked that he decided not to go because he didn’t want somebody to take a picture of him in the store and put it on any social media sites.

The traps were eventually purchased, because the coach was determined to get his message across that they were not going to have a letdown against the winless Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday after they beat the San Francisco 49ers the week prior.

A loss to the Jaguars couldn't happen if they expected to continue to gain momentum and have a chance to win the AFC South.

Message received.

The Colts were never really threatened in their 37-3 victory against the Jaguars.

“We talked after the 49ers game that human nature is hard to fight,” Pagano said. “You start reading all the nice things, you start patting yourself on the back and you get complacent, then you get your tail kicked. You have to prepare and you have to focus and you have to grind and you have to stick to the process. I’m going to keep beating it and beating it with these guys, that we’re not going to get complacent and we’re going to stay sharp and we’re going to stay focused.”

The win set the stage for next week’s game against the undefeated Seattle Seahawks at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The Colts are tied with Tennessee atop the AFC South with a 3-1 record.

“It was great that coach did that,” cornerback Greg Toler said. “Don’t buy into the hype, don’t be overly confident. You can be confident, but don’t be cocky.”

The Colts refused to look ahead at the schedule. The only thing they would talk about heading into Sunday was the Jaguars, because they knew there was a possibility they could be beaten.

It didn’t take long to realize they were focused strictly on Jacksonville.

The Colts led 20-3 and limited Jacksonville to 69 yards in the first half. The Jaguars were held to minus-2 yards and trailed 34-3 at the end of the third quarter.

“We are a team that never panics,” receiver Reggie Wayne said. “We just work the process and continue to play ball. We never get too high or too low. Hopefully we can keep riding this wave and keep playing ball. It is exciting, and especially the way we are winning in all three phases of the game, playing pretty good.”

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Don’t pay attention to the total yards the Indianapolis Colts gave up the Jacksonville Jaguars in their 37-3 victory on Sunday.

Giving up only 205 yards was impressive, but the number that you should pay attention to is the 67 yards the Colts gave up through three quarters when they were making sure they weren't going to get caught in the trap against Jacksonville.

The 138 yards the Colts gave up in the fourth quarter were garbage yards because the outcome had already been determined and the winless Jaguars were playing for their dignity at that point.

The Colts carried over what they did against San Francisco last weekend and brought that same dominating defense with them to Jacksonville.

“You can sense when blood is in the water,” Colts cornerback Vontae Davis said. “The first quarter they came out throwing their best shot at us, but we knew once we tasted blood we could jump on them quick. It got to the point where it seemed like they were ready for us to pack up our stuff and head back to Indy.”

It would be easy to wonder if the Colts' defense is for real because they played the Jaguars, who are just treading water these days. But that thought should quickly get erased because Indianapolis did the same thing to the 49ers.

The Colts have only given up 459 yards, 28 first downs and 10 points in the past two games. It’s time to look at the Colts as more than an offensive team.

Coach Chuck Pagano’s defensive mindset and coordinator Greg Manusky’s schemes have sunk in. It just took a little while for it to happen.

“We are going to stick to the process, keep coming back in here and preparing, staying the course and staying ready,” Pagano said. “We know who we are. … Again, to go on the road, after last week’s road trip, division game, and all those things.”

Having a stout defense eases the pressure on quarterback Andrew Luck and the rest of offense to put up a lot of points in order for them to win. The defense has shown that it’s good enough to win games on days the offense struggles.

“It’s awesome. It really is,” Luck said. “They do such a great job in practice all week, and to have them come out [like they did], it makes the offense’s job easier. Yeah, we’d love to score every play, but when you have a defense that’s playing like that, you realize it can be good team football.”

Indianapolis’ defense spent the week leading up to the game talking about containing running back Maurice Jones-Drew, who went into Sunday averaging 106.8 yards in 13 games against the Colts.

Jones-Drew was never a factor Sunday. The Colts bottled him up and held him to 23 yards on 13 carries.

That meant the Jaguars were forced to try to beat the Colts through the air with an unimpressive Blaine Gabbert at quarterback. And that played into the hands of Davis and fellow cornerback Greg Toler.

Davis set the tone defensively for the Colts by intercepting a Gabbert pass after dancing to get both feet in along the sideline on Jacksonville’s first offensive possession.

That just turned out to be the start of things for the opportunistic Colts defense. Davis tipped a Gabbert pass intended for Cecil Shorts and nickelback Darius Butler picked it off and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown.

The Colts intercepted Gabbert three times, sacked him four times and held the Jaguars to 2-of-11 on third down.

“We work real hard in practice, we push each other, the offense pushes us in practice, we hone in on our techniques and on Sunday it’s almost easier than it should be,” Butler said. “We’re just playing physical and we want to keep that mentality.”

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Observed in the locker room after the Indianapolis Colts’ 37-3 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars:

No need for Luck: Quarterback Andrew Luck had taken every snap under center for the Colts in his young career. The streak -- 20 games counting the playoffs -- ended in the fourth quarter Sunday. Veteran Matt Hasselbeck replaced Luck for the final 4:49 of the game with the Colts leading 37-3.

Werner hurting: Colts rookie linebacker Bjoern Werner left the game in the first half with a sprained foot. Colts coach Chuck Pagano said the rookie out of Florida State is scheduled to get an MRI.

Wayne keeps rolling: Receiver Reggie Wayne had five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. Wayne caught a second touchdown pass, but it was nullified because left guard Jeff Linkenbach was called for illegal use of his hands. Wayne now has nine 100-yard receiving games against the Jaguars.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A few thoughts on the Indianapolis Colts' 37-3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars:

What it means: The Colts smothered the Jaguars all afternoon and held Jacksonville to 67 yards of total offense through the first three quarters. No, that's not a typo. There weren't any long runs by Maurice Jones-Drew or Blaine Gabbert scrambling to make something to happen. The Colts had two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown by Darius Butler, and four sacks. Jones-Drew, who's averaged more than 106 yards a game in his career against the Colts, had only 23 yards on 13 carries.

Stock watch: Linebacker Robert Mathis had three sacks to move into 29th place on the all-time sacks list with 99. He has recorded at least one sack in every game this season and has 7.5 on the season. Mathis needs one more sack to become the 30th player in NFL history to have at least 100 sacks. Mathis finished with five tackles to go with his three sacks.

Brazill returns: Receiver LaVon Brazill returns to the Colts on Monday after being suspended the first four games of the season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. Brazill will be the team's fourth receiver behind Reggie Wayne, Darrius Heyward-Bey and T.Y. Hilton. The Colts didn't have anybody step up as the fourth receiver in Brazill's absence.

Brown shines: With Ahmad Bradshaw inactive with a neck injury, Donald Brown backed up Trent Richardson and ran for 65 yards on only three carries. Brown had a 50-yard run that set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Richardson, his second as a Colt.

What's next: The Colts return home for the first time in three weeks when they host the Seattle Seahawks at Lucas Oil Stadium on Oct. 6.

INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis Colts receiver Reggie Wayne wakes up, climbs out of bed and doesn’t feel like his body has aged to the point where he needs to even contemplate how long he plans to continue his career.

"As soon as I start waking up on a consistent basis and my bones crack and ache and I put that window in there, that’s the day I should probably stop playing," Wayne said. "I’m just taking it one year at a time. I feel good now."

The drive is still there for Wayne every day.

All you have to do is show up for a training-camp practice and you’ll see the 34-year-old Wayne still on the field after some of his teammates have left for the day and he’s catching passes – low, high, one-handed – perfecting his craft on the Jugs machine. Wayne said during training camp that he prepares each offseason as if he's competing for a roster spot. That goes back to his days at the University of Miami, where you had to remain healthy and productive to ensure you stayed on the field.

"It was kind of mandated that the only way you came out of the game was if you got a bone showing [through the skin]," Colts coach Chuck Pagano, who was with Wayne in Miami, said. "Otherwise you stay in and play."

Wayne is humble enough not to say he’s the leader of the team. But he is one of the leaders based off how his younger teammates look up to him.

“I won’t say I set the standard,” Wayne said. “I’m not the only guy who practices hard. We have quite a few guys who do that. They may look at me because I’ve played longer, but we have quite a few guys who bust their tails each day. I was doing the same things back in my Miami days, way back then. That’s what got me going. It’s something you have to take pride in, and not everybody wants to go out there every day. You have to be disciplined to go out there and fight.”

Wayne isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. He has appeared in 185 straight games, the second-longest active streak in the league, according to Elias Sports Bureau, and he’s 15 catches shy of 1,000 for his career.

“Not really,” Pagano said when asked if he’s surprised Wayne is still playing at high level. “I’m screaming at him from the sidelines in those couple catch-and-runs [against San Francisco]. We talk about run after catch. That doesn’t apply to Reggie. I’m screaming to get down, self-preservation. That’s just the type of player he is. He doesn’t know any better.”

Wayne added, "I say it all the time, out of all the accolades I have, the one that means so much to me is being able to be out there every game day."

Wayne has 17 catches for 200 yards and a touchdown this season. He’s still the team’s No. 1 receiver but the days of having to shoulder the load should lessen now that the Colts have a legitimate rushing attack with Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw (when he returns from his neck injury).

“I’m in my 13th year, I’m not worried about my numbers,” Wayne said. “All I want to do is win.”

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis Colts running back Trent Richardson isn’t at the point where he can leave and venture around the city without using his GPS yet.

The only place he’s been out to is the Hooters in downtown Indianapolis for some wings and shrimp.

Any free time Richardson has is spent with his eyes in the team’s playbook learning the system with his position coach David Walker.

Two hours before practice, an hour or two after practice.

“I don’t know anything else about the city, just know my playbook,” Richardson said.

Richardson is about to get tested on how much he knows the playbook because he’ll be the starting running back when the Colts play the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Ahmad Bradshaw, who has been starting, is out with a neck injury. Coach Chuck Pagano said he isn’t sure when Bradshaw injured his neck against San Francisco in the Sept. 22 game, but it’s believed to have occurred in the second quarter. Bradshaw continued to play and finished with 95 yards rushing.

“He’s got no choice, he’s got no choice,” Pagano said when asked if Richardson is ready to carry the load. “Those guys have done a great job. David Walker is a great football coach and a great teacher and he did an unbelievable job of getting Trent ready for last Sunday. He’ll do the same for this week.”

Richardson compared the whirlwind he’s gone through since being acquired from Cleveland on Sept. 18 to when he was juggling playing with the Cleveland Browns and the birth of his son, Trent Jr., at about the same time a year ago.

But things have slowed down for Richardson some this week. He’s getting a better grasp of things. The plays are pretty similar to what he ran in Cleveland and at the University of Alabama. Learning the terminology and knowing the calls, especially when quarterback Andrew Luck calls an audible, are the biggest issues for Richardson.

“As far as game plan, most of it,” Richardson said when asked how much of the playbook he knows. “I know I’m still way behind. I know it’s going to be a long time. Time is going to tell over this week and next week and the week after that."

Richardson and Bradshaw basically played the same number of snaps against San Francisco. Bradshaw had 30 snaps and Richardson was on the field for 28. Pagano said how the game is going will dictate how many snaps Richardson and Donald Brown get against Jacksonville.

“If you can balance it out and keep guys fresh so in the fourth quarter you’ve got fresh guys out there running the football, that’d be great,” Pagano said. “But again, it depends on how the game goes.”

Sunday is about more than Richardson stepping in for the injured Bradshaw. It’ll also likely be the unofficial transition of Richardson becoming the starting running back. He was bound to become the starter at some point but Bradshaw’s injury speeds up the process.

Richardson starting doesn’t signal the end of Bradshaw’s playing time by any means. The Colts need him to get healthy so that they can continue their “power-running” game. Indianapolis is fourth in the league in rushing at 148 yards a game.

“If we have an opportunity like we had last week [against San Francisco] as we move forward, which we plan on and we hope to have more opportunities to finish games running the football, we expect that all of our backs are going to have their fair share of carries,” offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton said. “It’s a long season and the attrition in the National Football League is very prevalent. … We’re going to need all our guys to carry the load.”

INDIANAPOLIS – The words used by the Indianapolis Colts to describe Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew ranged from "fire hydrant" to "one of the best in the league" to "powerful."

The list could go on and on.

For the Colts, Jones-Drew has been that nagging thorn you can’t get out, or the fly buzzing by your ear you can't swat away.

“He’s built like a fire hydrant, runs like a shorebird,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. “Tree trunks for legs. Never stops churning. Powerful, powerful guy. We know what type of runs he excels at.”

In 13 career games against the Colts, Jones-Drew has averaged 106.8 yards on the ground -- the most against any team he’s faced more than once.

“He’s a thick-bodied guy that runs with his pads down,” Colts defensive coordinator Greg Manusky said. “He’s a downhill runner. He has great vision. I think he can make all the cuts. He’s just a tough, physical runner that’s been producing in the NFL for a number of years.”

The Jaguars have actually done well against the Colts with Blaine Gabbert as quarterback. They’re 3-1 against Indianapolis with Gabbert taking the snaps, as opposed to 2-19 against the rest of the NFL.

Still, the only chance the Jaguars have to beat the Colts on Sunday is to feed Jones-Drew the ball like he’s at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

“MJD, he’s one of the best in the league,” Colts safety Antoine Bethea said. “Any time he gets the ball, he can take it to the end zone. I always talk about Travis Henry, those short, compact-type guys that has low gravity to the ground that’s really tough to get down. MJD, man, he’s there.”

The Colts struggled against the run last season, and this season they are 26th in the league in that category, giving up 129 yards a game.

Jones, who has been dealing with an ankle injury, has gotten off to a slow start this season. He’s tied for 32nd in the league in rushing at 115 yards. He’s averaging just 2.6 yards per carry.

But there’s no better team than the Colts for Jones-Drew to try to get back on track against. That’s why the Colts aren’t taking him and the winless Jaguars lightly. All they have to do is look at Jones-Drew's 5.4-yards-a-carry average against them in his career if they need a reminder.

“One guy get there, hit him high, slide down to the ankle and hold on until the other 10 guys there,” Colts defensive lineman Cory Redding said. “It’s very hard for one guy to take him down by himself. … It’s going to be a total defensive effort against [him] this week to stop the run.”

INDIANAPOLIS – Linebacker Jerrell Freeman went from being a former Canadian Football League player to setting an Indianapolis Colts franchise record for tackles last season.

And Freeman has gotten off to a strong start this season, proving it wasn’t a fluke. He is tied for ninth in the league in sacks with three and tied for 13th in tackles with 26.

“He’s a good athlete,” coach Chuck Pagano said about Freeman. “He studies the game, he works hard, he can run. He’s got intangibles. The guy’s got instincts. Again, he knows what’s coming before it comes.”

Getting strip-sacks has been a staple of Freeman’s already this season. He had one against Miami’s Ryan Tannehill in Week 2. Then he had one in the in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Freeman sacked and stripped the ball from 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick at San Francisco’s 8-yard line. The Colts scored three plays later to take a 27-7 lead.

“It’s just making the most of an opportunity,” Freeman said. “Guys up front, my linebackers blitzing in and doing their thing. They’re doing all that work, the least I can do is make a play when I get the opportunity. It’s just the opportunity presented itself and I’m making the play.”

Injury update:

• Running back Ahmad Bradshaw’s status for Sunday’s game against Jacksonville is in question after he missed his second straight day of practice with a neck injury. If Bradshaw can’t go, Trent Richardson would step into the starting lineup. So Colts would still be in good hands in the backfield if Bradshaw can't play.
• Don’t be surprised if safety LaRon Landry misses his second straight game with an ankle injury. He slowly made his way around the locker room wearing a brace on his left ankle during the media session. Delano Howell will continue to start there if Landry sits out.

The winless Jacksonville Jaguars return to EverBank Field after spending more than a week on the West Coast -- they played at Oakland on Sept. 15 and remained in California to prepare for this past Sunday's game at Seattle -- for Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts had a much better trip out West than the Jaguars. They routed host San Francisco 27-7 on Sunday by shutting down 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The Jaguars, meanwhile, fell to 0-3 after the Seahawks routed them 45-17. Sunday presents another tough task for the Jaguars. Colts reporter Mike Wells and Jaguars reporter Michael DiRocco take a look at this week's matchup.

Michael DiRocco: Mike, Peyton Manning was such an iconic figure in Indianapolis. With all the success he's had in his first 20 games, has Andrew Luck come close to that level yet?

Mike Wells: Manning may be on his way to his fifth MVP trophy out there in Denver, but the Colts could be set at quarterback for the next decade with Luck. It’s only natural to compare the quarterbacks because they both carry themselves in the same manner. They’re humble, perfectionists and, best of all, damn good quarterbacks. Luck isn’t at the same level as Manning, but the goal in Indianapolis is for him to reach that status or beyond. Speaking of quarterbacks -- or maybe it’s not a good idea -- what’s going on down there in Jacksonville with that situation? When do the Jaguars officially throw in the towel and say Blaine Gabbert is not the answer for them?

DiRocco: That is the general belief around Jacksonville, but that's not yet the case for new general manager Dave Caldwell and coach Gus Bradley. They have given Gabbert a clean slate and will evaluate him based on what they see from the 6-foot-4, 235-pounder this season. They have to find out whether Gabbert is the player around whom they can build the franchise, so this season is essentially a pressure-packed tryout for him. He has not performed well since being taken with the 10th overall pick in the 2011 draft. This year he's dealing with a pretty porous offensive line, and two of his top three weapons -- tight end Marcedes Lewis (calf) and Justin Blackmon (suspension) -- have yet to play this season. By the end of the season Caldwell and Bradley will know whether Gabbert is the answer. The Colts obviously have one piece of their foundation in Luck, but they recently traded for Trent Richardson to fulfill the role Edgerrin James had for years. My question is this: Who's the next Marvin Harrison?

Wells: They don’t have that receiver yet. Reggie Wayne is obviously a future Hall of Famer, and he’s still playing at a very high level. But he’s also 34 years old. The Colts are hoping that Darrius Heyward-Bey could be that receiver. He was the No. 7 overall pick in 2009, so he has the potential to complement Luck and Richardson. But Heyward-Bey has to get over his case of the drops. Playing well in spurts isn’t good enough. In fact, T.Y. Hilton, the Colts’ third receiver, outplayed Heyward-Bey in the preseason. I hate to do this to you -- and probably a lot of NFL fans -- but is there any possibility that the Jaguars would even think about bringing in Tim Tebow? There are fans down there rallying for him. And if anything, it’ll help in the attendance department.

DiRocco: Not going to happen, no matter how much noise Tebow’s supporters make. The Jaguars are moving forward with Gabbert, and if it turns out he’s not the player around whom they can build the franchise, they’ll look to the 2014 draft to find a quarterback. I covered Tebow at Florida, and he was fantastic, one of the best collegiate players of all time, but he’s just not able to make the leap. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t diminish what he did at Florida in any way. As for attendance, the Jaguars actually ranked 20th in that stat last season, drawing an average of 64,984. That’s ahead of teams such as Chicago (62,329), Minnesota (60,725) and Miami (57,379). That was for a 2-14 team that didn’t have Tebow. Sometimes young, talented teams that make the playoffs take a step backward the following season before really taking off a year later. Do you see that being the case with the Colts in 2013?

Wells: The Colts are a better team this season, but they will take a step back with their record by a game. Good fortune was on their side in more ways than one last season. They caught some breaks and Luck led them to seven fourth-quarter comebacks. They're still a playoff team, and if Houston slips up, the Colts will take advantage of it and win the division. The Jags are ranked last in this week's Power Rankings. Will they stay there all season?

DiRocco: I think they'll battle the Browns and -- I can't believe I'm writing this -- the Steelers for the last spot all year. Right now no team is playing worse than the Jaguars, especially on offense. But I do think things will get a little better with the return of Lewis and Blackmon. The offensive line has to play much better, though. Cleveland's victory last week was surprising, but I see that as more of a byproduct of emotion and anger after the Richardson trade than anything else. The Steelers have looked horrible, and the loss of Maurkice Pouncey has them reeling. Plus, we all know it's a matter of time before Ben Roethlisberger gets hurt.

INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano stopped to kiss his wife, Tina, goodbye on his way out the door to the team facility Wednesday morning when she told him what day it was. It was the one-year anniversary of Pagano being diagnosed with leukemia.

“She reminded me and said, ‘Just a year ago today was the day that we had to take that ride downtown and find out what we had,’” Pagano said on a conference call with Jacksonville reporters. “It’s hard to believe. It almost seems surreal, to be honest with you. It’s been a year already and we’re sitting here back to normal. I’m very, very lucky.”

Pagano ended up only coaching four regular-season games and the one playoff game as he battled the leukemia. He attended three games and also visited the team facility at different times while he was out receiving treatment.

“It was a bye week, so my wife coaxed me into having some tests run and thank God she did,” Pagano said when he asked what made him go to the hospital.

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts will be without starting defensive tackle Ricky Jean Francois against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Jean Francois injured his groin in the second half of their win over San Francisco last weekend.

“Groin injury looks to be a little bit worse than anticipated,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. “(He) might be out a week or so.”

The Colts gave an indication that Jean Francois’ injury would cost him some time when they re-signed defensive lineman Lawrence Guy on Tuesday.

Jean Francois wasn’t the only Colt not to practice Wednesday. Safety Antoine Bethea (toe), running back Ahmad Bradshaw (neck) and safety LaRon Landry (ankle) also missed practice. Bradshaw’s injury is surprising because Pagano didn’t mention him when he ran down the list of injured players during the media session.

Linebacker Pat Angerer (knee) and center Samson Satele (elbow) both were limited in practice after missing the 49ers game. Satele will start with Mike McGynn moving back to guard if he’s able to play against the Jaguars.

The Colts signed receiver Da’Rick Rogers and running back Kerwynn Williams to the practice squad Wednesday. Both players were released from the 53-man roster Tuesday. To make room for Williams and Rodgers, the Colts released receiver Danny Coale and running back Miguel Maysonet from the practice squad.

ESPN.com team reporter Mike Wells on the Indianapolis Colts' hot topics as they begin preparations for Week 4.