GREGG DOYEL

Doyel: A look inside the happiest Colts locker room of the season

Gregg Doyel
gregg.doyel@indystar.com
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (left) hugs Matt Hasselbeck following their 27-20 win over the Houston Texans. The Indianapolis Colts play the Houston Texans Thursday, October 8, 2015, evening at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX.

HOUSTON – "The Lord is my shepherd" were the first words to come spilling out of the Colts' locker room when they opened the doors to the media after their latest prayer, a 27-20 victory Thursday night at Houston behind a sick, 40-year-old backup quarterback who pulled an IV from his arm a couple hours before kickoff.

Who was screaming the start to the 23rd Psalm? Don't know, but lots of people were screaming in this locker room, screaming and laughing and crying after the Colts' best win of this fascinating season.

Receiver T.Y. Hilton was hollering at Frank Gore, who turned in the best game by a Colts back in years – 22 carries, 98 yards, one touchdown, no fumbles – and wears No. 23 but wasn't the one yelling the 23rd Psalm.

Who was it? Don't know, but it wasn't Joe Reitz, the right tackle whose insertion into the starting lineup three games ago – allowing Jack Mewhort to return to his natural position at left guard – coincided with the offensive line's resurgence.

After neutralizing Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, Reitz was happy. But there are different kinds of happy, and Reitz was happy in a sentimental way. He wasn't interested in celebrating his performance against Watt – two assists, no sacks, no big plays, no nothing – but Reitz couldn't talk enough about the 40-year-old backup quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck, who has been sick since Monday but played anyway because there was no other choice. Andrew Luck was again unavailable because of a shoulder injury. So Hasselbeck played this game with a Band-Aid on the crook of his left elbow, protecting the spot where IV's had been inserted to keep him hydrated.

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And Joe Reitz, he wanted to cry just thinking about that.

"Matt …" is how Reitz started. He paused. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know if he could even say it. So these are the words he decided to use:

"I'm going to get emotional, talking about Matt," Reitz said.

The whole locker room was emotional after this game, emotional in different ways. While Reitz was fighting back tears in the corner farthest from the door, someone in the opposite corner was screaming again.

"The Lord is my shepherd!" he said, and stopped, and again I couldn't see who it was.

But safety Mike Adams was beaming in front of his locker room, smiling at nobody – nobody was there, just him – as he tied his tie and slipped on his jacket and relished a night that saw him intercept two passes. The first one snuffed the Texans' opening drive of the game, and the second one snuffed their final drive.

A bit later Adams was talking to the media and chiding the critics, which I guess means the people he was talking to, for giving up on the Colts after their 0-2 start.

"The only people that believe in us are in this locker room," Adams was saying. "They can write us off, but it's a long season. Sooner or later everyone will be jumping back on the bandwagon."

Maybe so. Maybe some critics are back on board already, though it must be pointed out that the Colts' first five opponents have a combined record of 8-11, and their next five – Patriots, Saints, Panthers, Broncos, Falcons – are 16-3.

The schedule is about to get a lot tougher, but don't bring that silliness to the Colts' attention. Not yet. Coach Chuck Pagano said the team was going to enjoy this win for 24 hours, and he was clearly enjoying it as he stood at the podium and spit out short sentence after short sentence of sheer joy. A small sample:

"The offensive line was outstanding," Pagano said. "Great protection. Frank (Gore) ran for (98) yards. I think we averaged 4 to a carry. No sacks. I don't even know if the guy got hit. Maybe once, and they called roughing the passer. Offensive line was tremendous. Receivers made plays. Andre Johnson coming back home. What a fabulous game he had."

On and on Pagano went, describing Hasselbeck as being "literally on his deathbed Monday and Tuesday" and linking the Colts' current 16-0 run through the AFC South to the 1972 Dolphins' perfect 17-0 season and saying veterans like Gore and Johnson "are from Miami, so I guess you go down there and find Ponce de Leon and the fountain of youth. I spent six years down there sipping on that thing myself."

Tight end Dwayne Allen was describing the run-in he had with Texans outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, when the two almost came to blows. Allen was back in then moment, bobbing his head and showing me what Clowney had done – here, Allen put his fist near my sternum, then brought it up toward my jaw – and said, "You might be the No. 1 pick, but you're not doing that to me."

The Colts were feeling good, and someone was singing.

"Purple rain, purple rain!" This was coming from the general direction of outside linebacker Trent Cole, and several teammates were joining in, and it was a chorus of defensive lineman singing Prince while the king of this defense, outside linebacker Robert Mathis, was tiptoeing around the media between him and the shower.

Mathis was saying "excuse me, excuse me," as if he were the one in the way. It's not normal for Mathis to be so deferential to outsiders, but this wasn't a normal locker room scene. The Colts, once 0-2 and teetering on the edge of implosion, are 3-2 and feeling good about themselves entering the biggest game of the season – the next one, Oct. 18 against the defending Super Bowl champion and DeflateGate perpetrating Patriots.

Hasselbeck was describing his illness, delicately if viscerally saying it was "a lot of stuff coming out of the attic, and then stuff coming out of the basement."

Reaction to Colts' win over Texans

And there it came again:

"The Lord is my shepherd," he said, and this time I saw him. Outside linebacker Erik Walden – fresh off his best game of the season, with one sack and three quarterback hits – was quoting from the 23rd Psalm before disappearing into the shower.

What's going on here, I asked Trent Cole. Purple Rain, the 23rd Psalm, crying, screaming. What's happening?

Cole was smiling.

"After a win," he said, "you never know what's going to come out of our mouth."

Happiness, is what I was hearing. Happiness.

Find Star columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at@GreggDoyelStar or atwww.facebook.com/gregg.doyel.