Cam Bynum framed the Indianapolis Colts’ defensive week the same way he frames a snap: leave no box unchecked.
“Just leaving no boxes unchecked,” the safety said ahead of Sunday’s home division game against the Tennessee Titans. “This week, especially with our up-and-down performances that we’ve had, we just want to lock in on every single detail and make sure … effort, all the controllable things are done to 100% — the communication, knowing our assignments.”
Bynum said the inconsistency is “a little bit of everything” week to week, but he kept coming back to what he called “nailing the known” — the pre-snap communication and assignment work that should never be a question on game day. “If I don’t do my job, now it’s going to make the person next to me, his job a lot harder,” he said. “Everybody’s really … for me as a safety and as a communicator back there, I want to do above and beyond my job extremely well so the guys around me can feel confident.”
Practice to exhaustion
Asked what accountability looks like between Wednesday and Sunday, Bynum did not talk about speeches. He talked about chasing the ball carrier on every practice snap. “Just practicing to exhaustion,” he said. “I’m going to run and touch the ball carrier every single time, every single play, every snap of practice. I don’t care how far they are.”
He said the Colts have practiced well and that leaders would not tolerate soft midweeks. When that work does not show up on Sundays, “it just tells us as leaders, okay, we need to do a little more.” His phrase for the rest of the season: “We need to be extra about everything.”
Population, pursuit and the ball
On takeaways, Bynum reached for an old high-school shorthand — population, pursuit, punching at the ball — and said more hats around the football create tip drills and strip chances. “Just us focusing on that … comes with effort,” he said. “Being extremely nasty to try and get to the football.”
He was candid about his own start. “I had a lot of turnovers last year and I’m disappointed in my performance this year because I started really fast last year,” Bynum said. “I pride myself on being a ball hawk. So I’m going to find a way to get that ball.” Then he laughed at the idea that he does not look nasty: “I’ll be trying to rip somebody’s head off or rip the ball out of their hand with a smile on my face still.”
On the Titans’ 0-5 record, he waved away the trap. “Every NFL team is capable of beating you,” he said. “We have to focus as if it’s a Super Bowl. … It’s a division game, so no matter who you’re playing, those are always tight games.”
Pratt’s return role
Germaine Pratt, back with the Colts on the practice squad after a free-agent stretch that included a workout in Dallas, said the plan for his snaps is not his to announce. “I don’t know the plan,” Pratt said. “I’ll be ready when my opportunity comes. … My job and that’s my goal: elevate the room and just help them be successful.”
He described what he can bring after years in Lou Anarumo’s system: “Last year I came in, I was stable, helped stabilize the position. … Helping the defense, just being in this system for so long, that’s all I know.” Bynum welcomed the veteran voice. “He’s a great veteran … his leadership, how smart he is, and obviously he played a lot of good football for us last year,” Bynum said. “I’m excited to have him back.”
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