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If anyone has a reason to look forward to Sunday, it's Montae Reagor.
The Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle played in Denver for four seasons, so
his team's Dec. 21 meltdown against the Broncos felt like a personal wound.
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"(I felt) very sick," he said Wednesday. "It was a hard feeling and a hard thing to deal with.
"I'm very anxious and eager to get another shot at them."
Reagor, in his first season with the Colts, has started 12 games and recorded
38 tackles, including five against the Broncos, a statistic that brought him
little joy. In fact, every Colts defender felt embarrassed after the Broncos'
31-17 romp at the RCA Dome.
"We just have to tackle better, be more gap-sound and play a lot more reckless
than what we did," he said. "We didn't play as recklessly as we should
have in that first ballgame. It's going to be a little different this time."
For one thing, Broncos running back Clinton Portis will play, unlike in the
first meeting.
"If you don't get where you're supposed to be, it can be a 70-yard home
run immediately," Reagor said.
In the first meeting, Denver quarterback Jake Plummer threw only 17 times but
completed 14 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 22 yards
and two touchdowns.
"He runs at his own risk," Reagor said. "That's the way we look
at it. If he runs, he gets hit."
Asked about Denver's offensive line, which some say engages in chop blocking
and "dirty" play, Reagor said: "All I can say is that I just
hope they don't get me. My whole thing is to try to stay on my feet and stay
off the ground and play fast. You really can't think about it.
"It's (mental). You watch film. You see guys get chopped, you see guys
get flipped on their head. You think about it, but if you think about it too
much, then it's going to happen because then you'll start playing the cut. As
long as you don't play the cut, you won't get cut."
Drafted by Denver in the second round of the 1999 draft, Reagor got limited
playing time in nine games in his rookie season. He made 11 tackles but produced
no sacks.
In 2000, he ran with the first team during Trevor Pryce's holdout but finished
the season with only 13 tackles and two sacks. Reagor started in his first Broncos
game in 2002 but was released and joined the Colts in March as an unrestricted
free agent.
"It's the nature of the business," he said. "I wanted to stay
there, but things didn't work out.
"I'm here now, and I get to battle against them. Every ballgame that we've
kind of broken down in, it's not what the offense has done, it's basically that
we haven't executed to the best of our abilities. We feel very comfortable about
this weekend.
"We just need to play a lot faster and be more aggressive. We need to cause
more havoc than we did last ballgame."
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