

INDIANAPOLIS – Readers of Colts.com may submit questions during the week and have a chance to have them answered during the middle of each week. Submit your question here.
Here are responses to some of the questions received recently. We thank you for your interest in the Colts.
ERIC V. (from Bloomington, IN) Would it make sense to you to keep

A: I am under the impression it was not a multi-year deal, but it will be an interesting call to make. We have a great deal of youth, plus Wayne and Hilton are established. Our guys aren’t the types who really require a great deal of veteran leadership (which Deion could provide). The locker room does a good job of policing itself. That said, you don’t take lightly what Deion has done in his career. He’s local and is a classy guy. My uneducated hunch is we would go in a different direction, but that’s my guess (and only since you asked that specifically). He would have to be willing to play for a price that fits our cap. That may or may not be an issue. Again, I think we have more pressing matters elsewhere on the roster.
A: I just don’t see that anything needs to be done with our coaches, other than following our process. Players buy into our system, and the coaches are a big part of it. The league is full of talented people like Singletary and Norton, but sometimes fans seem to fall into the “grass is greener” mode. I wouldn’t publicly back our coaches if I did not feel that way, and I think we have a really good staff. While I don’t see need or merit to your suggestion, I do like engaged mailbag participants. I like your reference to “our” staff. Glad you feel that way. Keep up the support.
MICHAEL L. (from Columbus, IN) If San Diego lets Dwight Freeney go, could the Colts sign him? I believe we should draft a WR, DL SS and QB. I like our backup, but his age is old and
ROBBIE H. (from Luton, England) Great work this year! What is the biggest goal this off-season?
A: We do have a few building blocks in place and want to keep adding onto those. We have some players coming off injuries, so we want their rehabilitations to continue to move along smoothly. There seem to be no issues on that matter. Just having players continue to develop in our culture is big. Getting
A: I don’t get the feeling we are quite where we want to be with our defense. Our top sack producer, Robert Mathis, accounted for 46.4 percent of our sacks (19.5-of-42). That ties the tenth-best individual percentage in the NFL in 30 seasons (click here for story on Mathis getting the Deacon Jones Award as the NFL's top sacker, plus how his production rates among top sack seasons since 1982). Getting more players into the act would not hurt. There were times we were more aggressive later in the year (or so it seemed to me) with blitzing from the secondary. I just kind of feel we will be looking to grow more as a unit. We definitely need to stop the run better. There were games when opposing QBs skewed the stats, but there were other times when rushers had better days against us than we wanted. While I wouldn’t want to name a team we want to emulate, I think a stronger defensive presence is what we’re seeking. I don’t think we’ll rest until we get there, and I know we have the coach to get it done.
P.J. C. (from Illinois) I was reading one of your articles about Marlin Jackson recently, what happened to him?
A: Marlin suffered a couple of knee injuries with us that were very unfortunate. He tried to make it with Philadelphia after that, but his career ended around 2010. Marlin is a terrific guy and is living in the Indianapolis area, where he runs a foundation. Marlin is a good example of someone who embraces life’s positives and keeps a great spirit and ethic. He’s no stranger at our games and always is welcome to visit. As we all know, life offers no promises. Marlin was a solid player who worked hard and was a loyal teammate – everything you want in a player. He still is that way beyond the field, and we’re proud of him (click here for the Marlin Jackson feature story from the 2007 AFC Championship game).
STEVEN J. (from Chicago, IL) I know that
A: I spent some time with Tony Dungy last week and we talked about Robert Mathis and the immediate impact he had when we drafted him in 2003. Just hearing Tony talk about Robert reminded me of how quickly Antoine made an impact with us in 2006. Both players did so in their very first practices, and they never let up. I don’t know Antoine’s future, but the respect and affinity I have for him has me hoping he’s back. Ryan and Chuck will have some tough decisions to make, and what they look for in players is prevalent in Antoine. I don’t have an answer beyond that. I hope things work out for a great pro and person.