NASHVILLE -
Peyton Manning almost looked hesitant to say it, but after a grin and a shrug he finally did.
"The first third down, he did run the wrong route on that," said Manning of his rookie receiver wearing the No. 17, hoping not to call him out too much in front of a large media gallery.
But the All-Pro quarterback needs not to worry about offending Austin Collie. Just five minutes later, he fessed up to it.
"Tonight, I think I had two or three missed assignments," admitted Collie in the locker room following the Colts victory over the Tennessee Titans Sunday night.
Read: Larry Hawley's Hawl In Blog From Nashville
Such a statement is actually one itself about the attitude of the young receiver through the Colts' first five games of the season, which has seen the rookie emerge as a viable target for Manning.
"He can get down the middle and put some pressure on that safety," said Manning of Collie's play. "I am proud with the how hard he is working and how he is taking very seriously the cerebral part of the game."
That was shown early in the season, when Manning himself mentioned seeing the receiver in on his off days to watch game film following his first contest against Jacksonville on September 13th. Collie said after the off days that he simply felt he didn't prepare hard enough for his first game, and that attitude hasn't changed about a month later.
"I think you have to try to be humble," said Collie of his attitude in his first NFL season. "In a situation like this, you've always got to constantly remind yourself that that there are still things you need to be doing."
"I'm a rookie I make mistakes every single day in practice, I made a couple tonight."
The few mental errors that Collie made were quickly made up for through most of Sunday night's game against the Titans, as he caught a career-high eight passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns' in the Colts' 31-9 romp of Tennessee in Nashville.
Read: Colts Take Back AFC With Dominating Win Over Titans
"He's done an outstanding job of handling his role, just stepping up to the plate and taking care of business," said Colts tight end Dallas Clark of Collie.
The first year receiver at BYU did that the most late in the first half, when he outran his defender to get open for the catch, then made a few moves before eventually diving to paydirt for a 39-yard touchdown that put the Colts up 21-9. Early in the second half, it was Collie who was able to get open again, as Manning found him in the back of the endzone for the a second score that helped put the game away.
"When they are doubling essentially Reggie (Wayne) and Pierre (Garcon), obviously, the inside is kind of the area where you have to work a little bit," said Manning of finding Collie often on Sunday. "If the safety is in the corner, on the outside, so the inside, the seams to Dallas (Clark) or to Austin (Collie) , those are the areas you have to attack."
Collie has been able to do that more lately filling in for the injured Anthony Gonzalez in the slot since the third year receiver's injury in week one against the Jaguars. In five games Collie has made 20 catches for 228 yards and three touchdowns, with 14 of those catches and all of the scores coming in the last two weeks.
"Better in blocking, better in his terms of finding his reception areas and making big plays for us,"said head coach Jim Caldwell of Collie. "He has a real mature attitude toward developing his skills and I see every week he gets a little bit better."
See: Larry Hawley's Notes From LP Field
But don't expect that comment to go to Collie's head.
"I try not to get to ahead of myself especially as a rookie because you don't know," said Collie. "You see guys all the time go hot and not for a while so I think the key is just to remain grounded and continue working and continue building off what you learn each game."
"From the viewers eye, it seems like there was leaps and bounds of difference each week but in reality, its the plays which the viewer doesn't see."
"The first third down, he did run the wrong route on that," said Manning of his rookie receiver wearing the No. 17, hoping not to call him out too much in front of a large media gallery.
But the All-Pro quarterback needs not to worry about offending Austin Collie. Just five minutes later, he fessed up to it.
"Tonight, I think I had two or three missed assignments," admitted Collie in the locker room following the Colts victory over the Tennessee Titans Sunday night.
Read: Larry Hawley's Hawl In Blog From Nashville
Such a statement is actually one itself about the attitude of the young receiver through the Colts' first five games of the season, which has seen the rookie emerge as a viable target for Manning.
"He can get down the middle and put some pressure on that safety," said Manning of Collie's play. "I am proud with the how hard he is working and how he is taking very seriously the cerebral part of the game."
That was shown early in the season, when Manning himself mentioned seeing the receiver in on his off days to watch game film following his first contest against Jacksonville on September 13th. Collie said after the off days that he simply felt he didn't prepare hard enough for his first game, and that attitude hasn't changed about a month later.
"I think you have to try to be humble," said Collie of his attitude in his first NFL season. "In a situation like this, you've always got to constantly remind yourself that that there are still things you need to be doing."
"I'm a rookie I make mistakes every single day in practice, I made a couple tonight."
The few mental errors that Collie made were quickly made up for through most of Sunday night's game against the Titans, as he caught a career-high eight passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns' in the Colts' 31-9 romp of Tennessee in Nashville.
Read: Colts Take Back AFC With Dominating Win Over Titans
"He's done an outstanding job of handling his role, just stepping up to the plate and taking care of business," said Colts tight end Dallas Clark of Collie.
The first year receiver at BYU did that the most late in the first half, when he outran his defender to get open for the catch, then made a few moves before eventually diving to paydirt for a 39-yard touchdown that put the Colts up 21-9. Early in the second half, it was Collie who was able to get open again, as Manning found him in the back of the endzone for the a second score that helped put the game away.
"When they are doubling essentially Reggie (Wayne) and Pierre (Garcon), obviously, the inside is kind of the area where you have to work a little bit," said Manning of finding Collie often on Sunday. "If the safety is in the corner, on the outside, so the inside, the seams to Dallas (Clark) or to Austin (Collie) , those are the areas you have to attack."
Collie has been able to do that more lately filling in for the injured Anthony Gonzalez in the slot since the third year receiver's injury in week one against the Jaguars. In five games Collie has made 20 catches for 228 yards and three touchdowns, with 14 of those catches and all of the scores coming in the last two weeks.
"Better in blocking, better in his terms of finding his reception areas and making big plays for us,"said head coach Jim Caldwell of Collie. "He has a real mature attitude toward developing his skills and I see every week he gets a little bit better."
See: Larry Hawley's Notes From LP Field
But don't expect that comment to go to Collie's head.
"I try not to get to ahead of myself especially as a rookie because you don't know," said Collie. "You see guys all the time go hot and not for a while so I think the key is just to remain grounded and continue working and continue building off what you learn each game."
"From the viewers eye, it seems like there was leaps and bounds of difference each week but in reality, its the plays which the viewer doesn't see."
