After the Colts Week 6 loss to the Tennessee Titans and general manager Chris Ballard being relieved of his duties Monday, head coach Shane Steichen has had one message to his team: stay even keeled.
"There's going to be ups and downs in seasons," Steichen said. "You're going to have frustrating losses like what happened on Sunday, and you got to stay steady through the storm. And I think that's where great growth takes place, especially being a leader. The leaders on this football team keep the locker room committed because there is a ton of football."
If we go back to Ballard's inaugural draft class, just one player remains: defensive tackle Grover Stewart. A fourth-round selection, Stewart credits Ballard with taking a chance on someone from a small school in Georgia.
"He gave me the opportunity to be here," Stewart said. "I always told him, 'I owe you big time for just giving me the chance to be in the league and to perform.' He meant a lot to me."
The 2026 Colts are a team Ballard built. Each player on the roster is the product of a draft selection, free agent signing or trade acquisition. Several have known Ballard since the early beginnings of their storied careers.
For running back Jonathan Taylor, the relationship with Ballard goes beyond the initial phone calls.
"It's giving you the opportunity of a lifetime to want to live out your dreams and take care of your family," running back Jonathan Taylor said. "At the end of the day, when you're going through the draft, it's which team, which organization believes that you can be a difference maker in an organization. So I think he's been a tremendous help in this journey. And like I said, that you know, I was lost for words because you just start thinking, 'How could I have been more you know of a factor and possibly having a different outcome?'"
Each player who was asked about Ballard had the same general consensus: he was a stand-up, good man.
"Yeah, obviously, you know, tough, tough news to get, and feel, you know, obviously really grateful for Chris and his support, him giving me a chance here, and you know it's tough whenever you see anyone let go in this business, especially someone like him," quarterback Daniel Jones said. "He's a first-class guy, cares about the players, treats all the players the right way, and you know you can tell he really cares. So I feel lucky to have spent the time together with him and have the ultimate respect for who he is as a man, so tough. You know, it's a tough part of the business, but you know, I think you know, obviously, feel for him, feel for his family. "
To put it simply, football is a result-based business. The job security of several off the field rely on those off, and Colts players know that their performance was a large part as to why Ballard was relieved of his duties.
"At some point, it's on the team as a collective in order to prove the GM right," Taylor said. "You start thinking about all of the plays you had, all the games you had, all the years, and you know what could have been different to maybe have a different outcome."
While players can sit and debate what went wrong, they must turn their focus to their next task at hand: the Minnesota Vikings.
And while there may be a bunch of noise on social media, the Colts locker room has done its best to tune it out and keep its tunnel vision.
"Right now we're focused on the Vikings," defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. "(We're) preparing our best to go out there and win on Sunday."
