The objective is to be ready for the Indianapolis Colts’ Sept. 12 regular-season opener at Houston, but Jeff Saturday stopped short of guaranteeing he’ll be in the starting lineup. “Obviously my goal is going to be week one,” the Colts’ Pro Bowl center said today after going through a second practice following a long layoff necessitated by arthroscopic knee surgery. “That’s always been the goal. But I’m definitely not in a position that I can say that’s for sure. I’m working towards it.” Saturday, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Aug. 12. He’s still uncertain exactly how he suffered the injury, but the surgery kept him off the practice field until Tuesday. Saturday went through some one-on-one work Tuesday, then took some snaps today. “Yeah, you’re working back,” he said. “Just getting in my football position, moving around. Moving to the speed of the game is a big difference.”

AFC East

1. New England Patriots 10-6
2. Miami Dolphins 9-7
3. New York Jets 9-7
4. Buffalo Bills 2-14

AFC North

1. Baltimore Ravens 12-4
2. Cincinnati Bengals 12-4
3. Pittsburgh Steelers 8-8
4. Cleveland Browns 7-9

AFC South

1. Indianapolis Colts 13-3
2. Houston Texans 11-5
3. Jacksonville Jaguars 8-8
4. Tennessee Titans 6-10

AFC West

1. Oakland Raiders 9-7
2. Kansas City Chiefs 9-7
3. San Diego Chargers 6-10
4. Denver Broncos 4-12

NFC East

1. Dallas Cowboys 14-2
2. Washington Redskins 8-8
3. New York Giants 8-8
4. Philadelphia Eagles 5-11

NFC North

1. Green Bay Packers 13-3
2. Minnesota Vikings 13-3
3. Detroit Lions 6-10
4. Chicago Bears 4-12

NFC South

1. Atlanta Falcons 11-5
2. Carolina Panthers 9-7
3. New Orleans Saints 8-8
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2-14

NFC West

1. San Francisco 49ers 10-6
2. Seattle Seahawks 8-8
3. Arizona Cardinals 6-10
4. St. Louis Rams 5-11

NFL Playoffs

First Round:

Texans over Patriots

Bengals over Raiders

Panthers over Falcons

Vikings over 49ers

Second Round:

Colts over Texans

Bengals over Ravens

Cowboys over Panthers

Vikings over Packers

Third Round:

Colts over Bengals

Vikings over Cowboys

Super Bowl:

Colts over Vikings

Gotta support my Colts!

The Indianapolis Colts will look to get their current roster pared down even further when they host the Cincinnati Bengals Thursday from Lucas Oil Stadium.

Thursday’s battle marks the 19th preseason meeting between the clubs in the past 26 years. The lone time the teams have not met in preseason since 1992 was in 2000. This is the eighth consecutive year and the ninth time in the last decade the clubs have battled to conclude preseason play. Indianapolis reaches Thursday’s game with after dropping a 37-17 home decision to San Francisco (8/15), falling, 34-21, to Buffalo (at Toronto, 8/19) and dropping a 59-24 contest last Thursday at Green Bay. Cincinnati dropped a 16-7 decision to Dallas on August 8 in the Hall of Fame Game. The Bengals earned two home wins (33-24 over Denver, 8/15; 22-9 over Philadelphia, 8/20), then lost last Saturday at Buffalo, 35-20.

There are several players who didn’t participate in the Green Bay game and their status for Thursday’s contest isn’t known as of this posting. They are: QB Tom Brandstater, TE Dallas Clark, C Jeff Saturday, OTs Charlie Johnson and James Williams, WR Austin Collie, RBs Devin Moore and Allen Patrick, DBs Jerraud Powers, Glenn Sharpe and Kevin Thomas.

TV/Radio Listings: WTTV-TV telecasts with Don Fischer, Mark Herrmann and Jeffrey Gorman (field reporter). 1070-The Fan/HANK-FM, 97.1 broadcasts with Bob Lamey, Will Wolford and Kevin Lee (field reporter).

Thomas (6-0, 192) appeared in 39 games during his career at USC, becoming a full-time starter during the 2009 season. During his career, Thomas had 89 tackles, including 4.5 for a loss and three quarterback sacks. Thomas added 3 interceptions and 21 passes defensed. Today’s move puts the Colts’ roster at 75 players.

The new on-field positioning of NFL umpires isn’t concerning Indianapolis Colts President Bill Polian as much as many would believe. Polian, one of the league’s more prominent voices and a member of the NFL’s Competition Committee, said while there were issues involving the umpire’s change in position in the Colts’ nationally televised game this past Thursay, he said he’s not overly concerned about the situation and he doesn’t believe it will hurt the Colts’ offensively. “If I thought that would be a bi-product of it, obviously I would not have voted for it,” Polian said Saturday. The situation caused issues for the Colts Thursday. Twice early during a 59-24 loss to Green Bay the Colts were penalized for snapping the ball too quickly — i.e., before the umpire had cleared the running back. It was no coincidence that the situation became a high-profile issue during the third preseason game, Polian said. “We recognized as a committee that the third preseason game was going to be a good test, because in virtually all cases your top-line players were playing and playing a long time,” Polian said. “In our case, we told the league office and the officiating department that we would do all we could to push the tempo and try to create situations where we could find out what kind of picture we were going to see. That’s what occurred. We’ll go back and talk about the postmortem. I’m sure there are some tweaks that they will make and we’ll move forward.”

Aaron Rodgers rocked in the Green Bay Packers’ steamrolling Week Three pre-season win over the Indianapolis Colts. And he seriously rocked the house in Lambeau Field, throwing three touchdowns. He completed 21-of-29 passes for 195 yards, going along for a 124.9 rating.

The Packers went on their way to score six offensive touchdowns, including two on special teams formations, to go ahead for a 59-24 blowout over the Colts. This brings the Colts down to a 0-3 record, while Green Bay improves to a 2-1 record. All things are going good for the Packers, and they hope to start the regular season off strong.

“When we get into a rhythm like we have this preseason on offense, we’re going to be tough to stop,” Rodgers said. “It’s fun.”

However, the Colts could care less about this after what happened to their players. Joseph Addai suffered a concussion and left the game in the third quarter. He said he felt fine, but felt dizzy afterwards. Gary Brackett hurt his right hand, and according to the results, they came back negative.

“Really, they didn’t do any tests, they didn’t need to,” Addai said. “I was fine. If I needed to go back in, I could’ve.”

Both injuries are not very serious and they’ll be ready for the season-opener for the Houston Texans. However, they will most probably not be available for next week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals for the pre-season finale. Jim Caldwell is getting updates on injuries and could  also care less about the score.

“It wasn’t 59 points against our starters, it was 59 points overall,” Caldwell said.

Peyton Manning played great, too, throwing for 214 yards with two touchdowns and only one interception. This went along for a 94.1 rating. Indy was up 17-7, but Rodgers delivered and help the Packers get back, 28-17, by halftime. But the concerns for Indy is about staying healthy as cornerback Jacob Lacey left the game with a concussion, Tony Ugoh hurt his toe, and Antonio Johnson had a groin injury.

“Obviously the score got away at the end, which is certainly possible in the preseason; you’re playing a lot of young guys,” Manning said. “Offensively, some things that we did well, but as with most preseason games, some things that we can certainly improve on.”

Indy played without Jeff Saturday and Dallas Clark.

Back-up Curtis Painter had a miserable performance, again, passing for 97 yards and going six-of-eleven. He also had zero touchdowns and an interception, which went along for a 46.4 rating. Packers’ backup Matt Flynn outperformed Painter, throwing 80 yards while going eight-0f-13 with two touchdowns. This went along for a 118.6 rating.

Addai ran the ball well, rushing for 60 yards on seven carries, which goes for a 8.6 yards per carry average. But he mainly got it off a 49-yard burst. Mike Hart finished behind with eight yards on two carries. Ryan Grant ran for 36 yards on eight carries, which goes a 4.5 yards per carry average. Kregg Lumpkin finished behind with nine carries for 26 yards and a touchdown.

Reggie Wayne had seven catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. Pierre Garcon had two catches for 42 yards and a touchdown. Jermichael Finley finished strong for Green Bay, catching six passes for 85 yards and a touchdown. Donald Driver would finish behind with a touchdown while catching five passes for 35 yards.

Pre-season finale will be this Thursday. But what I am really focused on is the regular season is coming up. And Indy needs to be ready and healthy for that. Because that is when things really start to kick in.

That’s when you get serious.

Addai ran down Francois, but came down hard making the tackle at the Colts 2. Addai walked slowly to a cooler and sat with his head in a towel while trainers spoke with him. After a few minutes, he paced the far end of the Colts’ sideline watching the action and later was talking with Adam Vinatieri and Clint Session.

Linebacker Clint Session is eager to return to the field after injury….Dallas Clark says he will be ready for the season-opener…..Ray Fisher is hoping for a chance to prove himself to the Colts….Jerruad Powers says his foot is sore….Colts signed Allen Patrick, Glenn Sharpe; release Tim Hiller.

WHAT: Friday, August 27th, the Indianapolis Colts, Tom Zupancic and the Exchange Club of Speedway will host the 4th Annual Zup’s BBQ for Kid’s, benefiting the Children’s Bureau. Title sponsors for the event are: Huntington Bank, O’Charley’s, Indiana Farm Bureau, RCI, and Bose, McKinney & Evans. Fans that come out to the BBQ will have the choice of BBQ from O’Charley’s, Squealers, and Dawson’s on Main. For only $10, fans will be able to fill their plate with a choice of BBQ, 2 sides, Frito Lay Chips, and a Coca-Cola beverage. All profits from the Zup’s BBQ for Kid’s will benefit the Children’s Bureau.

Zup’s BBQ for Kid’s elements include:

·Colts Cheerleaders

·Free Colts Posters

·Colts In Motion Traveling Museum

·Colts Pro Shop Merchandise Sales

·Enter to Win Colts Tickets

·Indiana Blood Center – Donations

·Live Music

·“Celebrity” Rib Eating Contest 12:15-12:30pm

WHEN: Friday, August 27, 2010 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

WHERE: Monument Circle Indianapolis, IN

The Celebrity Rib Eating Contest, hosted by O’Charley’s, will take place at 12:15pm, and feature local TV/Radio/Newspaper celebrities from Indianapolis. The celebrity who cleans the most ribs in a five (5) minute time frame will be declared the winner of the rib eating contest and will receive a trophy and a $100 gift card to O’Charley’s.

The Indianapolis Colts and the Exchange Club of Speedway would also like to thank the following organizations for their generous support of the 4th Annual Zup’s BBQ for Kids; Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, O’Charley’s, Huntington Bank, Bose McKinney & Evans, RCI, Ray’s Trash, Sports Graphics, Coca-Cola, Frito Lay, Maingate, Martin University, 1070 The Fan and 97.1 Hank FM.

Weak-side linebacker Clint Session missed the first two preseason games with a pectoral muscle injury, but he has practiced this week and expects to play Thursday when the Indianapolis Colts visit Green Bay. “I haven’t hit anybody since the Super Bowl and I had a bad taste in my mouth after that game,” Session said. “It’s time to get a good taste in my mouth now.” Session shouldn’t be the only player coming back against the Packers. Wide receiver Pierre Garcon (undisclosed injury) and right guard Kyle DeVan (hamstring) returned to practice this week, and guard Jaimie Thomas (foot) and tight end Brody Eldridge (undisclosed) were back Tuesday, suggesting they might play. Coach Jim Caldwell confirmed that center Jeff Saturday, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Aug. 10, is progressing well in rehabilitation. “Coming along very well, as expected. He’s doing fine,” said Caldwell, who declined to say the Sept. 12 regular-season opener at Houston is the target date for Saturday’s return. “I’m not going to place any time frames. I’m not going to put any limitations on it.”