With owner Jim Irsay in a treatment center after his arrest on DWI and drug charges, things can hardly be described as normal.
But Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson is trying to keep the focus on the football and not the sideshow.
Grigson told Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star that Irsay was helpful, but wasn’t so involved that he’ll be missed in terms of the day-to-day operations.
“I don’t know if many people really realize, but Jim is so experienced and so weathered in football experience, being around the game his whole life,” Grigson said. “But he’s never been a micromanager, never really meddled or anything like that. He really leaves football decisions up to myself and the head coach [Chuck Pagano] and really has been great in that respect.”
Asked specifically about his boss, Grigson said he had nothing but praise, adding “Everyone in the building loves the man and we’d all run through a brick wall for him. We just wish him a full and complete recovery. We’re all really pulling for him.”
Grigson emphasized the trust that Irsay put in him when he was hired gave him a solid base. And if you’re going to trust a man to help you move on from the Peyton Manning era, asking him to handle a draft while the boss is out of town doesn’t seem like an insurmountable task.