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Pats’ pummeling in the past, Colts focus on Jaguars
INDIANAPOLIS — An interesting question was posed to Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck in the wake of last week’s 44-20 home-field loss to New England.
Luck was asked Wednesday if it was easier to learn more from a good win than from a bad loss. The Colts’ third-year starter thought for a minute or two before finally responding.
“That’s tough,” he acknowledged as the team began preparations for Sunday’s home game against AFC South rival Jacksonville.
“I think you try to learn from both. You really do. Obviously, the bad ones sting more, maybe gives you a little bit more impetus to get out there. I think this team has the right mindset that no matter what happened last week, you’re on to a new week. You’ve got to go out and try to win.”
Indianapolis coach Chuck Pagano always stresses the 24-hour rule: Enjoy the wins or stew about the losses for 24 hours. After that, it’s on to the next game.
“Coach Pagano’s preached that since I’ve been here. I know I buy in. (And) by and large, I think everybody buys into that,” the Colts quarterback said. “You realize you’ve got to have a short memory for good or bad in this league because you can be humbled real quick.”
So how quickly was Luck able to put the Patriots game behind him?
“It takes to watch the film and sort of get out on that practice field, which is probably the last step,” he said, adding that his attention is now solely on facing the Jaguars this week.
With a win over Jacksonville already in the Colts win column — 44-17 on Sept. 21 — Luck and the rest of Indianapolis’ players know that the Jaguars’ coaching staff will try to come up with some new looks.
Especially since the Jaguars are coming off of a bye week, they’ve had an extra week in which to prepare for this week’s game.
“This will be the first time I think that we’ve seen a team twice this year. But in the past, you realize you’re obviously not going to do the same the exact thing down pat,” Luck explained.
“You don’t want to repeat the things you didn’t do well previously, but you realize you’re not going to change your identity either and how you attack the team. There’s things we know we can do and hopefully do them well.”
The Jacksonville defense is expected to add a few new wrinkles this week.
“It’s a tough defense. They play hard. Every snap is contested. They have a front four that’s really, really good,” he said. “I think they’re top five in sacks in the NFL. We know we have our hands full. We also realize any past games really have no bearing on this one. It’s going to be a dogfight.”
In addition to being a divisional game, which is always important, Sunday’s matchup with the Jaguars is also an opportunity to begin a push to the playoffs for Indianapolis.
“We also realize at the same time what you’ve done in the past really has no bearing on this game here,” he said. “This is almost like you’re in a bunch of one-game seasons now. That’s our focus and it’s not really what we’ve done in the past.”
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