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Indianapolis Colts

It is one month into the NFL season, and the concern in Indianapolis is already growing.

Head coach Chuck Pagano is still trying to get his offense in sync, looking for ways to pressure opposing quarterbacks, working on convincing players to avoid preventable penalties and focusing on getting his team to function well at the same time.

If Pagano didn't have enough to contemplate before last weekend's trip to London, the eight-hour flight home certainly drove home the point.

"Obviously you can't keep spotting teams the leads and the points that we do and expect to have these comebacks," he said Monday.

The troubles have become pronounced that even players are speaking freely about what's gone wrong.

After Sunday's 30-27 loss to previously winless Jacksonville, Andrew Luck offered a rare, general critique by calling on the Colts (1-3) to "be more professional."

He also blamed this season's sluggish start to "bad ball" and a lack of "focus." Other players shared similar sentiments in the locker room.

And the usually cautious Pagano hasn't held back, either.

"Too many penalties. Too many missed opportunities. Too many dropped balls," he said Sunday. "We didn't tackle well, they ran the ball well. We didn't do our job on the defensive side when it had to be done."

For the Colts, these are not new problems.

Last season, they finished 18th in the NFL in penalties and routinely found themselves trying to dig out of early deficits.

Everyone from team owner Jim Irsay to Pagano's assistants spent the offseason discussing the need to better protect Luck, and general manager Ryan Grigson responded by using four of eight draft picks on offensive linemen.

So far, little has changed.

As ESPN.com's Mike Wells notes, so much of the Colts' success rides on the right arm of their franchise quarterback, but Luck can only carry them on his 6-4 shoulders for so long before it wears him down.

Luck was 26-of-41 for 232 yards with 2 touchdowns on the day.

"Andrew, as our leader, puts a lot on his shoulders," tight end Dwayne Allen said. "But it's not his fault. His supporting cast, myself especially, have to step up and play better. And we will play better."

It's true. At some point, somebody -- the front office, the coaching staff, teammates -- has to step up and lend a helping hand. Because while the Colts are trying to improve through the draft, everything in the end is based on results.

"We've all got to be better," Pagano said. "Every player in that locker room, player, coach, we're in this thing together."

Luck's skill-position players did not do any favors for the quarterback in the first half -- when Indy had four drops. To put those drops into perspective, 19 teams entered Week 4 with four or fewer drops on the season, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Three of the four drops were drive killers because they occurred on third down.

Meanwhile, Indy has allowed a league-high 15 sacks and Luck is on pace to be hit nearly 200 times this season -- far more than anyone wants.

While part of that could be explained by the infusion of rookies, three of whom started Sunday, the bigger concern has been the play of left tackle Anthony Castonzo, a six-year veteran. Thirteen months ago, Castonzo signed a four-year, $43 million contract, but struggled most of last season and is off to another poor start this season.

But the problems go beyond the offense.

Only nine teams have fewer sacks than Indy (seven), only five teams have allowed a higher completion rate than Indy (68.1 percent) and only two teams have allowed more points than the Colts (125).

It's enough to baffle any coach, especially one such as Pagano, who had previously coached the secondary and served as a defensive coordinator.

"Penalties, poor execution, just fundamental things early on got us in the hole that we were in," he said. "Again, we had opportunities. There were plays to be made and we didn't capitalize on them."

So, before the Chicago Bears (1-3) come to town this weekend, Pagano will spend his waking hours looking for those seemingly elusive solutions.

"All you can do is keep coming to work, keep working to get better," Pagano said. "We've got to improve, got to find a way to play better early and you've got to finish."

Also of interest. ... Because of the long trip back, Pagano gave his players some extra rest Monday. Pagano also sounded hopeful about getting three injured players back this week. He said cornerback Darius Butler (hamstring) should return to practice Wednesday. He also expects right guard Denzelle Good (back) and right tackle Joe Reitz (back) to practice on a limited basis Wednesday.

With 68 rushing yards, RB Frank Gore passed Marcus Allen (12,243), Edgerrin James (12,246) and Marshall Faulk (12,246) for the 12th, 11th and 10th-most rushing yards in NFL history.

Gore (chest) did not practice Wednesday -- not an unusual occurrence for him. But I'll follow up as needed Via Late-Breaking Update in coming days.

WR Donte Moncrief (shoulder) is continuing his rehab after being injured against Denver two weeks ago. He is not expected to return for practice for another couple of weeks at the earliest. Moncrief is listed as day to day in terms of his rehab work.

Meanwhile, TY Hilton had a touchdown catch along with seven receptions for 42 yards in London. Rookie RB Josh Ferguson also had seven catches in the game.

PK Adam Vinatieri improved his streak of consecutive field goals made to 33 with two against the Jaguars on Sunday. His streak currently ranks third in franchise history and is the longest active streak in the NFL.

And finally. ... The Colts announced that they have released cornerback Antonio Cromartie and waived linebacker Sio Moore. Both players started all four games.


DEPTH CHART
QBs: Andrew Luck, Scott Tolzien, Stephen Morris 
RBs: Frank Gore, Robert Turbin, Josh Ferguson, Jordan Todman 
WRs: TY Hilton, Phillip Dorsett, Quan Bray, Devin Street, Donte Moncrief 
TEs: Dwayne Allen, Erik Swoope, Jack Doyle