WESTFIELD, Ind. – No Andrew Luck? No problem for T.Y. Hilton.
With Luck missing yet another training camp session Sunday at Grand Park Sports Campus, Hilton turned to another strong arm: Jacoby Brissett.
On two occasions, Hilton made impressive catches. Each time, it was Brissett delivering the perfect pass.
During one team session, Hilton ran a deep post route, got separation from cornerback Quincy Wilson and cradled a Brissett pass for what would have been a 70-yard touchdown. A short time later, Hilton beat corner Pierre Desir’s decent coverage down the right sideline and made a nifty over-the-shoulder catch of a Brissett pass.
Hilton punctuated each reception with an animated celebration. On the first, he ran to the back of the end zone and shared his elation with the fans.
It’s been that type of camp for the Colts’ four-time Pro Bowl receiver.
A few days ago, Hilton generated a pair of impressive catches, again on deliveries from Brissett. On one, it appeared Brissett had overthrown Hilton on a corner route. But Hilton caught up with the football and made a leaping catch despite good coverage.
Just T.Y. being T.Y.
“You can see it out there every time,’’ Frank Reich said a few days ago. “He’s just unbelievable. He made two catches today. The one, I’m standing right behind the quarterback, the ball’s thrown, it’s a deep-over route – I’ve seen a million of these – the ball comes out of his hand and in my brain I’m saying, ‘Yeah, there’s no way T.Y.’s getting to that.’ I mean literally, I’m saying, ‘There’s no way.’
“And next thing I know I look up, he makes the play. So that’s the value he brings.’’
Taking roll
At least a dozen Colts were held out of Sunday’s practice. Some were on “maintenance days’’ while others were dealing with minor injuries.
Linebacker Darius Leonard was in the later category. He experienced back spasms during Saturday’s practice, and the team was taking no chances with last season’s Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Others held out Sunday were quarterback Andrew Luck (calf), center Ryan Kelly (shoulder), tight ends Jack Doyle (oblique) and Ross Travis (hamstring), wideouts Parris Campell (hamstring) and Penny Hart (hamstring), defensive ends Jabaal Sheard (knee), Ben Banogu (hamstring) and Justin Houston (day off), cornerback Kenny Moore II and safety Clayton Geathers (day off).
The status of one player bears monitoring. Backup center Josh Andrews had to be helped off the field after suffering some type of injury during the end of practice.
Wideout Devin Funchess came up lame during the end of drills, but it appeared he was dealing with a cramping issue.
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