INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis Colts are in the middle of rookie minicamp at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center.

Former Penn State tight end Tyler Warren was drafted by the Colts in the first round of last month’s NFL Draft, while former Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard was drafted by the Colts in the sixth round of the draft.

The two played each other this past January in the Orange Bowl down in Miami Gardens, Fla. Leonard’s Fighting Irish beat Warren’s Nittany Lions 27-24 in that College Football Playoff matchup.

News 8 Sports’ Andrew Chernoff asked Warren on Friday if Leonard and him have discussed that game at all.

“Hadn’t been long talks, but it came up here and there,” Warren said.

Notre Dame may have beaten Penn State this past January, but Warren had a huge impact for the Nittany Lions in the game. He finished with 6 receptions for 75 yards in the contest, while also rushing for 21 yards on two carries.

“I didn’t talk to J.T. (Tuimoloau) about the natty, but I went straight up to Tyler Warren,” Leonard said. “That’s for sure. I went straight up to him. But then again, he probably had like 150 yards on us too at the same time.”

The duo may have been on opposite sidelines in that game this past January, but now they are looking forward to being teammates in Indy.

“He (Leonard) was a great player,” Warren said. “So playing him in college and now being teammates is really cool. And just to kind of share teams with guys that had great success all through college. Now being on the same team is really cool.”

Leonard shares the same sentiment as he now is throwing passes to a player in Warren who made life miserable for defenses all across the college football world last season.

“Tyler, he’s a football player,” Leonard said. “He went out there yesterday and just very easily adapt(ed). He’s just a quarterback-friendly guy – catches, soft hands and things like that. But, ‘Tyler Warren’ Tyler Warren is like – you strap up them pads, that’s another version of the dude. Some guys are just football players and he’s definitely one of them. You can kind of tell. When he gets his hand in the dirt and straps it up, I’m excited to see it. Because I obviously saw it in person when we played him in the playoffs and it was fun to watch… kind of.”

The two players are ready for the challenge of playing in the NFL. Leonard credits playing at Notre Dame for helping prepare him for this next opportunity.

“You learn how to be a professional from the day you walk into the locker room,” Leonard said. “And you don’t learn it through the X’s and O’s and the playbook. You learn it from the environments around you. So if I went into Notre Dame’s facility at 10 p.m. at night, there’s guys in there constantly working because they’re all trying to make it to the NFL and win a national championship. That is our goal as a program. And everybody’s in there for the same purpose, rhyme and reason. So, I think Notre Dame teaches you the intangibles that just set you up perfectly for the next level.”

Colts rookie minicamp continues Sunday.

Dennis Hauger earned his third victory in four INDY NXT by Firestone races this season, passing Andretti Global teammate Lochie Hughes early and powering to victory in the second race of the Indianapolis Grand Prix doubleheader Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Hauger drove his No. 28 Rental Group car to a 4.7739-second victory over the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship machine of pole sitter Hughes, who earned his first career victory in the INDYCAR development series Friday evening in Race 1. Myles Rowe finished a career-best third for the second consecutive race in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy entry.

SEE: Race Results

“It’s been a great start to the season,” Hauger said. “Yesterday wasn’t great, but we were able to come back and get a win today. Super-happy about that, and in a place like this, it’s awesome.”

Salvador de Alba climbed one spot from his Friday finish to place fourth in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car as the third Andretti Global entry to finish in the top four today on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit. Caio Collet rounded out the top five in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car.

Norwegian driver Hauger became the first driver to win three of the first four INDY NXT by Firestone races of the season since current NTT INDYCAR SERIES star Pato O’Ward achieved the feat in 2018.

Hauger’s path to victory was created when he survived the first turn of the 35-lap race without contact, unlike Race 1. He was bumped off track in Turn 1 on the first lap Friday, falling to last in the 21-car field before recovering to finish eighth.

Hughes once again led into Turn 1 today, this time with fellow rookie teammate Hauger in pursuit. Hughes built a gap of 1.7 seconds by Lap 3 when the only caution period of the race was triggered when Jack William Miller in the No. 40 Abel/Miller/Vinatieri Motorsports car and Nolan Allaer in the No. 11 HMD Motorsports machine made side-by-side contact in Turn 1, forcing both cars to a stop in the grass.

On the restart at the end of Lap 5, Hughes and Hauger raced side by side toward Turn 1, with Hauger on the left and Hughes on the right at the start of Lap 6. Hauger edged ahead approaching Turn 2, with his left wheels on the dirt adjacent to the asphalt, and completed the pass for the lead in that corner.

Hauger never trailed thereafter, but Hughes stayed close for a while. Hauger’s lead stayed around one second until about 10 laps to go, when he started to pull away. He padded his gap to 2.6718 seconds by Lap 29 and continued to drive away until the checkered flag.

“Yesterday was tough,” Hauger said. “I think we really didn’t have the balance, either, going through the field. But today we really nailed it. It was a warm day, and you had to judge it nicely with the rear tires.

“We managed well, and we had really good pace today. That’s a good way to bounce back.”

Hauger took a 15-point lead over Hughes in the series standings after four of 14 races this season. The next race is the INDY NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday, June 1 on the streets of downtown Detroit (10:30 a.m. ET, FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

IndyNXT PR

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Rookie minicamp got underway at the Colts complex on 56th Street on Friday.

All eyes were on the 14th overall pick, tight end Tyler Warren.

Warren officially signed with the Colts this week, and he’ll wear No. 84.

Warren wore No. 44 in college at Penn State, the same number that Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin wears. Warren said he never really asked Franklin that hard about wearing the No. 44 jersey with the Colts though.

The biggest thing on Warren’s mind on Friday though, was just the excitement of getting out on the practice field in Indianapolis.

“Being out here and actually playing football with the horseshoe on the helmet now is really cool,” Warren said. “So that’s just fun being out here. and it’s starting to feel like you’re back in it and I’ve had some guys text me and stuff when I got drafted, so to see them in person and start to mesh with the team will be fun.”

“Right now we’re just installing the offense right now,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. “Getting him to know the terminology and we’ll go from there, but smart player, what he was able to do at Penn State, and now to get him here was exciting.”

Steichen added that Warren had a couple good catches and was a physical presence out on the practice field.

And for Warren, it was nice to get the draft process behind him and just get back to playing football.

“I’m excited to be here and get back in the flow of football,” Warren said. “Actually getting on the field and playing football after this long process where I was doing a lot of stuff that wasn’t football. It was good to be out here with everybody and get back in the flow.”

Warren had 104 catches for 1,233 yards and eight touchdowns last year at Penn State, leading the Big Ten in receptions. Warren also was used in the run game, where he had 218 yards and another four touchdowns.

Colts rookie minicamp continues through Saturday.