After storming back with 17 consecutive points in the second half of yesterday’s win against the Atlanta Falcons, the Indianapolis Colts improved their record to 3-0 with quarterback Matt Hasselbeck filling in for the injured Andrew Luck. Colts linebacker Jerrell Freeman talked about how important the 40-year-old veteran has been to the team.
“People forget what kind of quarterback Hasselbeck has been all of his career. He’s a great quarterback. He’s been to the Super Bowl. He’s done a lot. He still has a lot of tread left on those tires,” Freeman said on The Jim Rome Show. “We’re confident. We see it all the time in practice. We’re confident in his arm and his legs, and he gets the ball out quick. He still has some of that gun slinger mentality; he gets out of the pocket side arm. We have confidence in our offense.”
The 29-year-old linebacker said the addition of a veteran like Frank Gore who has done it all throughout his 11-year career has been helpful for Hasselbeck to rely on.
“With him, it’s all football. He’s a great vet. We got a great mix of mature young guys and we got some great vets and he’s one of them,” Freeman said of Gore. “He’s one of those guys that is always about football, he’s always trying to get better. He’s always working, he’s in the weight room working out every day, he just has that “IT” to him, and when you get him on the field, probably, not probably, he has the greatest vision that I’ve ever seen anybody have. He’s slipping through a little crack that you didn’t know was there, holes and everything. It’s good to have a guy like that on the team.
Freeman also shared his support of head coach Chuck Pagano, who has been rumored to be on the coaching hot seat.
“I think Chuck is probably one of the greatest coaches I’ve ever been around,” Freeman said. “He’s got guys in here rallying around each other, got guys willing to run through a brick wall for the guy. He’s a great motivator, he’s passionate, he’s a player’s type of coach, he’s been there before, his attitude is great he’s always upbeat. But he will get onto you, if you’re out there messing up or whatever, but he’s a great coach. I love me some Chuck Pagano. So I hope he still has a job. I think he deserves it.”
