As the Colts wrapped up pregame warmups last weekend, running back and team captain Jonathan Taylor walked up to safety Jonathan Owens.
"You got us today?" Taylor asked Owens. "Set the tone and get us ready for this game, man."
Taylor had felt Owens' presence in practice leading up to the Colts' Week 3 game against the Houston Texans. The eight-year veteran's impact wasn't just confined to three practices, though: The edge and energy Owens has brought to the Colts since signing as a free agent in March has been noticeable for months.
But in this instance, with the Colts staring down an 0-2 start and a division rival on the other sideline, Taylor thought Owens was the right guy to deliver the final message to his teammates before kickoff.
"He's definitely an edgy and chippy player and been around the league for a long time," Taylor said. "I think that any time you can get a guy like that who's played in the league for a long time to speak to the team, there's bound to be some type of nuggets or knowledge or something that he feels that will cast over to the other guys on the team."
Owens didn't have time to prepare a speech or collect his thoughts. He doesn't even remember much of what he said, other than emphatically repeating one word: energy.
"You just kind of black out and say what's on your mind," Owens said.
But in this moment, it's less about what Owens says and more about how he says it.
"It's whatever comes to your mind, man. It's one of those things, people know if you really mean it," Owens said. "... That's kind of what I do. I'm a big energy guy. Guys on the team can feel it and they know — you can see it in your eyes if you're really about what you're saying."
Even in the quiet of the Colts' locker room at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center, you can see the fire in Owens' eyes as he talks about not only his pregame message, but also the role he embraces on this team. This is not a guy who will BS his way through anything, and certainly not when it comes to the importance of one of the things he brings to a football team.
This is a topic that means something to Owens.
"The ball finds energy," Owens said. "People feed off energy. It's something essential to a football team."
With the Colts, Owens is fully committed to being the energy guy. He's always been energetic, but as a veteran on his fourth team – and he's made the playoffs in each of his three previous stops – he's now someone who commands immense respect within his locker room.
"He's a player that's super fiery," safety Cam Bynum said. "He's played a lot of years in the league, he has a lot of experience. He's a good veteran in every phase."
"The energy he brings, he's the same person every day," defensive tackle DeForest Buckner said. "And guys feed off that energy."
There's that word again. Owens flies around on special teams, contributes on defense and isn't shy about speaking his mind. He described himself as a guy who "won't shut up." That's a good thing. If you're with him in practice, you better match his "full speed, balls-to-the-wall" mentality, as he put it.
"The energy and the leadership that he brings are important," Bynum said. "He's one of the glue guys that keeps the locker room together."
On Sunday, as Owens' speech became more and more fiery, teammates attentively bounced in the background. Defensive tackle Grover Stewart, tight end Mo Alie-Cox and long snapper Luke Rhodes are among those in the frame, nodding their heads along with Owens' words. It shouldn't be lost here that those are three of the Colts' longest-tenured players, guys who all entered the league while Owens was grinding away in collegiate obscurity at Division II Missouri Western.
The Colts, then, went out and won, 19-17, over the Texans. They started fast, forcing a three-and-out on defense and building a lead at halftime. And then, with the game on the line, this team collectively executed to pull back ahead of Houston in the dying embers of the afternoon.
But the fire, the passion, the energy – there's that word again – was sparked by Owens just before kickoff.
"It's one of those things, you find your role and once you figure it out, you just have to maximize it," Owens said. "... I was just glad I was able to do that for the team. Anything you can do to try to get a win."
