Indianapolis, IN
From undrafted to starter: Why Dallis Flowers is the wild card in Colts CB picture
Insiders: Colts optimistic about team’s future
Insiders Joel A. Erickson and Nate Atkins recap Chris Ballard’s season ending press conference.
Clark Wade/IndyStar
INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts have to be much better in the secondary next season.
Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard decided to go young at defensive back last year, and the decision bit the Colts, limiting Gus Bradley’s play-calling options and leaving the defense vulnerable to talented receivers.
How Ballard plans to address the secondary this offseason remains the question. Ballard praised rookie cornerbacks JuJu Brents and Jaylon Jones in his postseason news conference, promising to add competition at the same time.
And he offered a reminder that another name is in the mix.
Dallis Flowers.
The second-year cornerback opened the season as the team’s top starter on the outside, then suffered a torn Achilles tendon late in the team’s overtime loss to the Rams, ending what was supposed to be his breakout season after just four games.
“We thought he was playing pretty good,” Ballard said. “Getting Dallis Flowers back will be big.”
Flowers gave up eight completions in 15 attempts for 91 yards in four games, according to Sports Info Solutions, allowing a quarterback rating of 71.8 that would have led the Indianapolis cornerbacks last season.
But a torn Achilles tendon can be difficult to rehabilitate.
“Camp is in July, the end of July, so I’ve got about seven months,” Flowers said at the end of the regular season. “Long as I’m ready for camp, that’s all I’m focused on. I’ll be straight.”
Being back on the field is well within the realm of possibility.
When other Colts have suffered the same injury, they have typically been able to return by the start of the next season.
Being back at full strength is often more difficult. Players who have suffered an Achilles tendon tear typically do not regain the same explosiveness until the second season after the injury, though they can play.
In other words, a player can be back on the field, but they might not be quite the same athlete, at least not right away. For a player like Flowers, whose remarkable athleticism is the reason the Colts believed he could eventually make the leap from undrafted free agent to starting cornerback, that can be a big distinction.
“This is my first real injury,” Flowers said. “It’s new to me.”
Injury is new to Flowers. Adversity is not.
Flowers played basketball and football in high school at Oak-Park River Forest in Illinois, and in part because of his dual-sport status, he was lightly-recruited, leading him to at Robert Morris, an FCS program. He then transferred to Tiffin’s Division II program, moved to the NAIA level with Grand View and finally caught the NFL’s attention at Division II Pittsburg State, leading to a contract with the Colts.
Flowers believes what he learned on the winding road he took to the NFL will serve him well as he attacks his Achilles recovery.
“The tables are always turned against me,” Flowers said. “It’s still kind of natural to me. I’m kind of used to it now.”
Flowers needed to lean on that prior experience when his Achilles tendon tore in OT against L.A., removing him from the lineup as the Rams put together a game-winning drive.
Because the injury came at exactly the wrong time. Undrafted free agents rarely get multiple chances to establish themselves as NFL starters, the kind of reputation that can make or break a player’s career.
“I started to get real comfortable in game three against Baltimore, and game four at home, when the injury happened against the Rams, I was bringing the calls to life,” Flowers said. “It was kind of a breakout game for me on defense, and now I’m just trying to get back and go from there, keep going.”
Flowers will return to a Colts cornerback room that looks very different from the day he got injured.
When Flowers got hurt, it opened the door for Jones, a seventh-round pick, to enter the lineup. Despite his struggles down the stretch, Ballard spoke glowingly about the rookie’s promise at the end of the season. Brents battled injuries as a rookie, but Indianapolis invested a second-round pick in the Warren Central product.
An addition or two is likely coming at the position.
“We’ll add fuel,” Ballard said. “We’ll add some competition to it.”
Flowers first has to get healthy.
Then he will have to prove himself again.
“It’s easy to be negative when something bad happens. I just tried my best to go the other way, go the opposite way. There’s always going be light at the end of the tunnel.”
Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis welcomes increase in tourism
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — It is National Travel and Tourism week. This year, there are many events encouraging people to visit Indianapolis.
2024 has been proven to be a strong year for tourism in Indianapolis. From events such as the NBA All Star game, the Solar Eclipse and even the NFL combine.
“We can confidently say this is our biggest year in tourism yet for the city of Indianapolis,” says Clare Clark, senior communications manager for Visit Indy. “And what better week to celebrate national travel and tourism week than leading into the Indy 500, [and] the Pacers continuing their playoff run.”
The month of May is traditionally the biggest month for tourism due to the Indy 500. The track has welcomed 500,00 people in the month of May alone, Clark says.
Indy shows no signs of slowing down in terms of tourism. June 15-20 Lucas Oil Stadium will host the U.S. Olympic swimming trials for nine days.
This year’s anticipated tourism is expected to bring an economic boost to the city.
“Each year we, we welcome 30 million visitors annually to Indianapolis. So that equates to nearly $5.8 billion in economic impact. So, think about all the hospitality workers that really helped be those frontline greeters and those that welcome our visitors to the Circle City. We employ nearly 83,000 hospitality members in Indianapolis. So, it’s just a huge industry and we’re excited to celebrate this week,” Clark says.
Indianapolis, IN
Josef Newgarden says no issues with repaired Indianapolis 500 ring after 2023 win
Pit Pass Live: Rain ends practice early, Dixon turns fastest lap
Motor sports insider Nathan Brown recaps a rainy first Indianapolis 500 practice. Interviews include Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, and Scott McLaughlin. Plus, news of the day.
IndyStar
INDIANAPOLIS – When Josef Newgarden won the 2023 Indianapolis 500, he looked to be on top of the world. He celebrated on top of his car, against the fencing separating the oval track from fans, with the winner’s milk in Victory Lane and finally knelt down to kiss the Yard of Bricks across the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
That’s when the smile that had been beaming across his face since the biggest race of the year ended momentarily subsided. Newgarden’s first-place ring fell apart.
He picked up the pieces with a confused look, but soon went back to celebrating. Newgarden wasn’t going to let this distract from what may have been the greatest day of his then-17-year racing career.
An IMS spokesperson later told the IndyStar that the face of the ring fell off when Newgarden was slamming his hands against the bricks in celebration. Shortly thereafter, Josten’s, the jewelry company responsible for the Indianapolis 500 rings, sent Newgarden a backup ring while they took the original for repairs.
Nearly a year later, on the first day of practice for the 108th annual Indianapolis 500, Newgarden said there are no issues with his now-fixed ring.
“They replaced that fast, so it’s been good so far,” Newgarden said.
Contact Kyle Smedley with comments via email at kmsmedley213@gmail.com or on X @KyleSmedley_.
Indianapolis, IN
Ericsson “can’t believe” he backed off on Indy 500 last-chance qualifying lap
Former F1 racer Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 winner, was on course to make the field when he backed off at the end of his third tour of the four-lap qualifying run.
After realizing his error, he got back up to speed but it was too late to set a representative speed.
That meant he had to sit in the pits, cooling his car, before a last-gasp final run which ended inside the final five minutes of the session – and sealed his 32nd position on the grid.
“It was tough for sure,” said Ericsson. “This was even harder than the last few years, especially after my mistake there on my first run when we were safely in – can’t believe I did that.
“Then I had to sit there and wait and think about that I had one shot to make the race. I had to hit that run; I knew the car was hot from the first run. We had to trim out, and the car has been really difficult to drive since my crash. It was a tough mental challenge.”
When asked by NBC Sports if anything had changed on the radio instructions to count him through the laps from the pitstand, Ericsson replied: “You live and learn right, but it was all on me.
“We’ve done the same all week, it feels like we’ve done 58 qualifying runs and it’s always been the same countdown. It’s on me, I messed that up and I shouldn’t be doing that with my experience.
“We’re going to change procedure on that for sure!”
Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda Photo by: Josh Tons / Motorsport Images
His fellow last-chance qualifier Graham Rahal was also relieved to make the field – after his second year of facing an anxious wait to see if his speed was sufficient to make the field.
“We went to bed last night scratching our heads,” said Rahal. “A lot of questions that need to be answer and still do.
“We changed some componentry that we expected to go better, and we went slower today again, which is the fourth day in a row of speed loss. Setup really hasn’t changed, we can see it in the data, but unfortunately, we’ve got to identify what the component is.
“We put on our road course gearbox, which I can guarantee nobody else is running. We just threw on some random uprights, and we tried to make it work, but we lost speed again.”
When asked if he was getting accustomed to the anxiety of potentially being bumped again, he replied: “It never feels calm. It never feels good.
“The way the rules are written for the LCQ, it’s not favorable it on those on the bump. You can’t move.
“If you pull out of line, you pull your time, you’re not allowed to make the adjustments on the car that you would like to proactively.
“You’ve got to wait to see and then pull and go again.”
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