The last time Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday saw Patriots owner Bob Kraft, the two hugged — both in celebration of the end of the summer-long NFL lockout and in mourning of the loss of Myra Kraft, who had passed away that week.

In his remarks to the media in the aftermath of the NFL and its players’ association agreeing to a labor deal, Saturday paid special tribute to both Bob Kraft, for his work in making the deal happen, and Myra Kraft, for her support.

“Without him, this deal does not get done,” Saturday said then. “He is a man who helped us save football.”

What Saturday said was seen as a significant conciliatory gesture to end what had been, at times, an acrimonious process.

“At the end of the day, we all wanted to play football and we just wanted to get a fair deal in place,” Saturday said Wednesday in a conference call with reporters. “Those guys understood and everybody knew the situation that Mr. Kraft was going through. I think it helped kind of solidify the deal just going forward, saying ‘Hey man, we’re all back and getting this league where it needs to go and be the greatest game in our country.’ ”

The sacrifices Kraft made to get the deal done weren’t lost on the players on the other side of the table.

“I’ve got my wife and kids at home, and I can’t imagine going through something as stressful as the lockout was on top of having an illness that you know is as serious as it was for his wife,” Saturday said Wednesday. “I had a ton of respect for what he was doing, and I had a ton of respect for, when he was there, he was engaged.”

Will Saturday have another hug waiting for Kraft at Gillette Stadium on Sunday?

“I think we’ll go to handshakes from this point on,” he said.

Will Manning return this year?

For the first time in recent memory, Peyton Manning won’t be under center Sunday when the Colts face the Patriots.

But there’s a chance the Colts could get Manning back before the end of the season.

Manning, with Tom Brady, one of the top two quarterbacks of his generation and perhaps of all-time, has missed the entire season to this point after undergoing neck surgery in early September, his third neck surgery in a little more than 18 months. He was scheduled to undergo tests Wednesday to determine the next step in his rehabilitation — tests that could determine whether he can play again this season.

“Peyton, obviously, you can’t respect a player more than I respect him,” Saturday said. “I’ve been with the guy for 13 years. I know how hard he works. I know what a good player he is, how valuable he is to our football team. On top of all that, to see a player face this type of injury, this isn’t something you get over in a week or two — this has been a major process.”

The Colts’ season was lost a long time ago, but a return by Manning could give the team a morale boost heading into the final month.

“I’ve told people, people that ask me over and over, ‘If he’s healthy enough, he’ll be on the field, I can guarantee that,’ ” Saturday said.

Edelman doing it all

Julian Edelman might have made the Patriots’ most impressive defensive play last Sunday against Philadelphia, wrapping up 230-pound quarterback Vince Young in the open field and tackling him shy of the goal line.

Edelman finished with three tackles in the game, the same number as Jerod Mayo and Rob Ninkovich.

But open-field tackling isn’t new to Edelman, a regular on the Patriots’ special teams in the past.

“Tackling in the open field, using your leverage, knowing where your help is — whether it’s a defensive player inside of you or the sideline outside or wherever it happens to be,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “You’re in some of those same relationships in the kicking game, no question. I don’t want to say tackling is tackling, but tackling is tackling.”

The emergence of Edelman, a quarterback-turned-wide receiver who now is playing defensive back in the slot, has bolstered what all season long has been a weak New England secondary.

“Obviously, we don’t have a lot of numbers there, and he’s done a great job of trying to step in and learn what we’re doing and try to do it to a competitive level — and he’s definitely done that,” Belichick said. “He’s a smart guy and he does have a little bit of an instinctiveness and a set of skills that are conducive to both spots.”

Belichick: Colts’ offense looks the same

A year ago under Manning, the Colts led the NFL in passing offense.

This year, under the since-deposed Kerry Collins and Curtis Painter, the Colts rank 28th among the 32 NFL teams in passing offense.

No matter. When Belichick has shown his team film on the Colts’ offense to prepare them for Sunday, he’s made sure they’d seen everything they used to see.

“It’s identical,” Belichick said. “It’s their offense — no-huddle, they go at a fast pace, hard to substitute. You have to be ready to play defensively with whoever you have on the field. You have to be ready to play first, second and third down with them. You can’t count on getting anybody in or getting anybody out. …

“Painter and (Dan) Orlovsky, both of them, whoever has been in there, they’ve both done a good job of changing plays, taking advantage of looks. They’ve hit some big plays — a couple of long passes against Tampa on audibles.”

The same goes for the Colts’ defense — at least the way Brady looks at it.

“I know that we have to go out there and we have to play well and try to block Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis and the inside guys,” Brady said. “They have some young, athletic linebackers, some guys in the secondary who can make (plays). Antoine Bethea, I’ve played a lot of free safeties and he’s one of the better ones that we play. You can’t go in there and go ‘Oh, we’re the Patriots. (They’re) the Colts. We’re going to win this game and move on.’ That’s not the way we approach it, and that’s not the way it works — not in the NFL.”

Injury line

Offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer did not participate in practice Wednesday with foot and back injuries. His return remains uncertain.

Fourteen Patriots were listed as “limited” in practice: Patrick Chung (foot), Dan Connolly (groin), Edelman (back), Dane Fletcher (thumb), Gary Guyton (shoulder), James Ihedigbo (shoulder), Matt Light (ankle), Devin McCourty (shoulder), Antwaun Molden (concussion), Chad Ochocinco (hamstring), Taylor Price (hamstring), Matthew Slater (shoulder), Brandon Spikes (knee) and Ryan Wendell (calf).

bmacpherson@providencejournal.com

If you like reading our blog, remember to bookmark it.

Carolina Panthers punter Jason Baker has a unique insider-outsider perspective on the Indianapolis Colts.

Baker spent some time with the Colts in 2004, working as a kickoff specialist. He’s close friends with fellow University of Iowa graduate Dallas Clark. And Baker also lives in Indianapolis and works out at the same facility as many of the Colts during the summer months.

“I learned first-hand the level that organization operates at,” Baker said. “So that makes it somewhat shocking. But I’ve also played in the NFL long enough to know that nobody’s really that much better than anybody else. The Packers have to show up Thursday to win their game and the Colts, I’m sure, are not automatically thinking they’re going to lose just because they’re 0-10.”

Baker, a Fort Wayne native who runs an annual middle-school football camp here, says his 11 years in the league have taught him the difference between the winning teams and the losing ones are much closer than the average fan understands.

Baker and the Panthers (2-8) play the Colts at 1 p.m. Sunday in Lucas Oil Stadium.

“It’s not quite as big a gap as a lot of people would think,” Baker said. “The Colts have had injury problems, more than just Peyton (Manning). …I think the line is much finer between your 11-5 years and your 4-12 years. An injury here, an injury there and everything changes.”

Baker has been through a few changes, too, this season, as new coach Ron Rivera took over and rookie quarterback Cam Newton came in to run the offense.

Newton has impressed analysts and fans, and Baker can attest to Newton’s big-play ability.

“Cam’s been a pleasant surprise on a lot of levels,” Baker said. “I think he’s probably exceeded everyone’s expectations. I don’t want to use the word shocked, but under normal circumstances of an offseason, that would be an impressive rookie performance, let alone meeting the coaching staff basically at the end of July.”

Baker said he has had to adjust his game this season, working on his situational punting. His yardage numbers aren’t as high this season, but he’s also being asked to place his punts at specific places on the field frequently. The Carolina special teams have struggled at times, too.

“It’s a challenge because, on one side, I feel like I’m punting the ball better than I ever have in my life,” Baker said. “A lot of people measure quality by distance and hang time and I think this type of year is one where it’s more positioning to give us the best opportunity to eliminate returns.”

Baker expects the Colts to play one of their best games of the season.

“I do know the Colts have a ton of playmakers on their roster,” he said. “I’m fairly certain if we fall asleep on them, we’re going to lose.”

The Panthers are coming off a game where they built a lead on the Lions but let it slip away.

“We’ve had a handful of those games where the Panthers have beaten the Panthers more than the other team has beaten the Panthers,” Baker said.

When Castonzo entered his senior year of high school, he was a little discouraged because he was not receiving any interest from DI schools. One thing that kept him going was that he knew in the back of his mind that Fork Union Military Academy would be an option for after high school.

In the summer before Castonzo’s senior year he was participating at the North Carolina football camp when Coach John Shuman from Fork Union Academy noticed him. Shuman told Castonzo that he could go to prep school to get some looks and get better exposure. Castonzo told Shuman that he’d think about his offer. After his senior season, Castonzo didn’t have to think too hard about it.

“After my senior year I had nothing. I had no offers and no real interest from anybody. I just wanted to exhaust all opportunities to get where I wanted to get, which was to play division one football. I decided to go to Fork Union,” said Castonzo.

Castonzo started to get the attention of some college coaches during Fort Union Coaches Day. Castonzo impressed while doing drills in front of college coaches and earned his first scholarship offers. Interest continued to come in from division one schools as the season ran longer. Two of the coaches who showed interest in Castonzo were Coach Mike Siravo of Temple, and Coach Don Yanowsky from East Carolina. As we know by now both coaches ended up at BC when Jeff Jagodzinski was hired, and both coaches were a big reason why Castonzo ended up at BC.

Castonzo left Fork Union after one semester to enroll early at BC. The tackle was one of the first players in many years who enrolled early at BC, which was a big deal at the time. It ended up being another one of the perfect decisions by Castonzo.

“Coming in early was huge. It helped that the entire new offensive coaching staff was just put together, because I was on the same playing field basically as everyone else competing for a spot. Also, I knew zone blocking because I did it at Fork Union, whereas nobody else who had been at BC knew zone blocking, so I was ahead of the game really,” said Castonzo.

Upon his arrival Castonzo impressed the coaches immediately and that continued into summer camp. Jeff Jagodzinski immediately raised eyebrows when he gave the true freshman a tremendous compliment at media day in August.

“He’s going to be one of the better offensive linemen to ever come through here. I’ll tell you that right now,” said Jagodzinski in August of 2007.

Castonzo still vividly recalls his favorite day of that summer camp in 2007.

“In summer camp on my birthday I remember calling my dad and telling him, ‘I got the best birthday present ever. They moved me to the starting position at right tackle. This is awesome,” recalled Castonzo.

Castonzo says that he doesn’t even remember his first game in college and it’s a blur now because he was so high on adrenaline. The first year was a challenge for him, but he got lots of help along the way, particularly from his fellow offensive linemen.

“They all helped me out. Gosder Cherilus and I roomed together at the hotel before games, so he would talk to me and get me prepped. Ryan Poles was also really big in preparing me. In terms of welcoming me to the offensive line, Tom Anevski was really big. Everyone really helped me and brought me along. The seniors were great. That’s definitely a reason that BC continues to have great offensive lineman because everyone kind of takes care of the guys coming in,” said Castonzo.

In Castonzo’s sophomore year, he started catching the eyes of pro scouts. Castonzo also realized himself at that time that perhaps he was more than just an adequate college football player.

“When I first thought I had that NFL potential was at the end of my sophomore year. I’d line up against guys and just know I was not going to get beat the whole game. Once I had that confidence I knew I had a shot,” said Castonzo.

That shot officially turned into a reality on April 28th, 2011 when Castonzo was selected by the Colts. The morning after the draft, Castonzo flew out to Indianapolis and was able to get his playbook before the lockout was put back on by judges. Right now Castonzo is just trying to keep himself busy as he waits for the NFL owners and players to reach an agreement.

“My whole day revolves around working out because I have nothing else do to basically. I wake up, I eat, I go run for an hour and a half or two hours, I workout, I eat again, I do rehab stuff, and I eat again. I weigh 313 pounds and I’m in the best shape of my life right now. I’m excited to see what I can go do,” said Castonzo.

As for the big signing bonus that’s awaiting him, Castonzo doesn’t seem like a guy that likes to flaunt his money.

“I don’t really have plans to splurge. I’m going to get a nice house and a nice car, but I don’t need any of those extra things. I want to make sure I live comfortably,” said Castonzo.

The new car isn’t even an item that Castonzo is going to go crazy with.

“I have no idea what kind of car I’ll get. I just want something I can fit in comfortably. There aren’t too many options out there that fit that criteria,” said Castonzo.

Castonzo has had a long and winding journey from the time that his high school coach told him that he was probably just a DII or DIII prospect. His story can serve as an inspiration for any young player who truly believes in their ability to play big time college football.

In the future, there is bound to be a BC recruit who will ask Castonzo about his time at the Heights. Castonzo summed it up by saying, “It’s just a great environment. It’s a very positive place where there’s a lot of opportunity. You can play a high level of football, you have an opportunity to win every game, and get a great education. It just has a real positive vibe.”

This is an example of the content provided on this site. If interested in trying our Seven-Day Free Trial, click here.

Leave any suggestions in the comment box.

Thanks for visiting my blog =).

If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top.

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

Thanks for visiting my blog =).

Thanks for reading! .

What do you guys think about this.

Leave your comments on the news below.