Indianapolis Colts' Starters Will Likely Sit in Preseason Finale

The starters will likely sit when the Colts wrap-up their preseason against the Cincinnati Bengals at Lucas Oil Stadium Thursday night.

A number of starters have missed some preseason action, including wide receivers Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie, who have both missed one game. Also missing time was tight end Dallas Clark and center Jeff Saturday, who have yet to play in the preseason. Clark and Saturday will likely make their season debuts against the Texans in the regular season opener.

“It’s still an evaluation process, and we’re not going to deviate much from what we’ve done previously,” head coach Jim Caldwell said. “But we’ve still got a lot of guys that we need to take a real good look at—what we have, what they can do for us, where they fit—so that’s what this game will be. A huge part of our evaluation.”

The Colts have traditionally sat starters in the final preseason game. Quarterback Peyton Manning has not played in a preseason finale since 2004. Instead, Caldwell and his staff will turn their attention to the younger players battling for the final roster spots to determine who will survive the last round of cuts.

NFL rosters must be cut down to 75 players by August 31, and trimmed to the final 53-man roster by September 4. Thursday night’s game against the Bengals may dictate who survives the remaining cuts.

“There’s a number of guys that haven’t had an opportunity to play a whole lot,” said Caldwell. “This game’s going to provide an opportunity for some. This is where they get an opportunity to show what they’re capable of doing, how much they’ve learned, how they can apply it on the field of play. So this is a very, very important ball game.”

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