INDIANAPOLIS – It’s the mantra of virtually every NFL player.
Control the controllables.
Do everything conceivable on a daily basis to prepare yourself for the next practice or next game and do as much as possible from a training aspect to limit the risk of injury in a violent line of work.
Simply put, JuJu Brents’ latest brush with injury was completely out of his control.
Weird, insisted the Indianapolis Colts’ second-year cornerback. Downright freaky.
What other explanation fits an Arizona Cardinals player’s cleat working its way under Brents’ helmet and to the bridge of his nose and rearranging – well, breaking – the nose in the first quarter of the week 2 preseason game at Lucas Oil Stadium?
Brents obviously knew something wasn’t right. He finished the series, trotted to the sideline and picked up a mirror.
His nose was pointing to the left. Brents and his bloody face were escorted to the locker room.
“At first I didn’t know,’’ the 2023 second-round pick and Warren Central High School product said Thursday. “Had to get a CT scan the next day and they told me.’’
A “simple procedure’’ realigned Brents’ nose and dealt with any ancillary issues. There’s still a small scar on the bridge of his nose along with slight discoloring on one side.
The Colts held Brents out of the preseason finale at Cincinnati, but he’s back on the practice field this week. During Thursday’s full-speed work, he wore a red jersey which signals a player is off limits to contact.
“Kind of the QB4 look,’’ Brents said with a laugh.
On a more serious note, he’s on track to join Jaylon Jones as the Colts’ starting cornerback tandem in the Sept. 8 season opener against the Houston Texans.
“I feel great,’’ Brents said.
The nose injury is the latest to impede Brents’ development.
His rookie season initially was impacted by rehab from a broken wrist sustained at Kansas State – he played his final year with the injury, then had surgery after the NFL Scouting Combine in February – and he missed the first two games with a hamstring injury and six more with a quadriceps injury.
He was unable to finish the season-ending loss to the Houston Texans because of a hamstring injury, which left “a sour taste in my mouth about how it ended,’’ Brents said.
Before the nose injury during the preseason, he missed time with a minor shoulder injury.
“Definitely excited to hit the ground running. It’s exciting times,’’ he said. “The year 2-type vibes I’ve been getting, man, it’s hard to describe.’’
It also was hard for Brents to describe the broken nose.
“It was weird,’’ he said. “They thought my visor hit my face. It was like a hard impact.
“But actually on that play it was a freak accident. Dude’s foot (came) and just went under my helmet and just kicked me. When they slowed it down and showed me the film, it was such a bang-bang. But it was a kick from the cleat. That’s why I’ve got the scratch.’’
In a short time, Brents has experienced the unforgiving nature of the NFL.
“You’re going to face setbacks, some adversity,’’ he said. “Overall I’ve been pretty healthy. Little things I can control, I can.
“But need to be making a play in the game where I’m just being physical and I get kicked in my nose and breaking it. Things like that are going to happen.’’
Flowers ailing
The return of Brents has been countered, at least temporarily, by the absence of cornerback Dallis Flowers. He missed Thursday’s practice with a hamstring injury.
Coach Shane Steichen expects Flowers to be available for the opener.
“I think he’ll be all right.’’
Pittman: finally, a captain
The players voted eight players as captains for the season, and Michael Pittman Jr. was honored for the first time.
“I mean, it’s definitely something that I don’t take lightly,’’ he said. “That’s one of the highest honors . . . just knowing that my guys voted for me.
“I mean, it’s just a huge honor. I think that it’s an opportunity to serve and just any way that I can help them out. I’m still learning what that means.’’
The other seven captains: DeForest Buckner, Zaire Franklin, Kenny Moore II, Ryan Kelly, Quenton Nelson, Anthony Richardson and Jonathan Taylor.
Position coach Reggie Wayne has been adamant that one of the next steps in Pittman’s career was to earn a ‘C’ on his jersey. He made that clear during the offseason after the Colts signed Pittman to a three-year, $70 million contract with $46 million guaranteed.
“We can’t stop here,’’ Wayne said. “The investment is in, right? We’ve got to get the money’s worth, right?
“I hope the arrow continues to grow. I think Pitt still wants to be the ultimate leader, right? He still don’t have a C on his chest, right? What’s the problem? You’ve gotta earn that. You’ve gotta earn that from your teammates and you’ve gotta earn that from everybody. You’ve still got things he hasn’t accomplished.’’
Pittman hadn’t talked with Wayne about the captain’s designation.
“He wanted it for me, too,’’ he said. “I think he thinks highly of me and he wanted me to get that honor and it happened.’’
Is being selected a captain a sign that Pittman’s maturing as a player?
“I still like to fool around and mess around,’’ he said with a smile. “I’m not sure that there's a lot of guys that would use the term mature.’’
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.