Charvarius Ward knows Colts need true No. 1 with Sauce Gardner out

INDIANAPOLIS — The calf injury that knocked Sauce Gardner out of the lineup is going to force the Colts secondary back to where it was before the trade deadline.

Veteran cornerback Charvarius Ward steps back into a true No. 1 role, the player Indianapolis signed him to be when the Colts upped their offer to sign Ward to a three-year, $54 million deal worth $35 million in guaranteed money this offseason.

Ward hasn’t been that player yet in his first two games after returning from a four-week stint on injured reserve to deal with concussion symptoms that left him dizzy for weeks after a freak pregame collision with tight end Drew Ogletree, a hit that left Ward wondering if he’d ever be back.

That evaluation is coming from Ward himself.

“Definitely haven't been playing up to my standard yet,” Ward said. “I'm just trying to get back into the groove of things, continue to work my technique every day, work on what I feel like I need to work on and just attack every day, man, with a get-better mindset. That's what I've done my whole life, my whole career. Sometimes, when things (are) not going great for me, that's when I rise to the occasion.”

Ward, who gave up two key late completions on crossing routes against the Chiefs in his first game back, struggled again with in-breaking routes on Sunday, giving up 6 of 10 completions for 112 yards when he was the nearest defender in coverage, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.

That’s not the Ward who opened the season.

Ward, whose nickname is Mooney, gave up 12 of 21 completions for just 110 yards in his first four games as a Colt, but he spent more than a month on the sidelines.

“We want Mooney to be the best version of him,” defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said. “Any time you’re off from football for that long and really not practicing with the guys, I think it’s going to take you a little time to get back.”

Gardner’s injury means the Colts need Ward to find the best version of himself quickly.

Without Gardner around, Ward will have to travel with the other team’s best receiver throughout the game. When Gardner went down with the calf strain on the second play of Sunday’s game, Ward shifted onto Nico Collins, and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud wasn’t afraid to test the veteran right away.

“It kind of hurt to see him going down on second play the game,” Ward said. “He’s an All-Pro, highest-paid corner in the game, so he’s a big dog, too. We definitely would have been better off with him. But just me, putting me on Nico – just having to rise to the occasion, and I don't think I played well.”

Collins, a Colts killer throughout his career, finished with five catches for 98 yards.

But Ward believes he’ll bounce back.

He always has before.

“Came from nothing, came from zero for the most part,” Ward said. “I rose up out of that. I had a hard route making it to the NFL, going junior college, undrafted and everything like that – and getting two big contracts. So, that's just how I was raised, how I came up. I always work hard. I always grind. I always prove myself right instead of trying to prove somebody else wrong.”

If Ward can play the No. 1 role, Anarumo will likely deploy veteran cornerback Jaylon Jones and Mekhi Blackmon in advantageous matchups, raising their level of play by asking them to do what they do best.

The Colts need Ward at his best to put the other cornerbacks in those positions.

“I wasn’t down on him at all, I love the guy to death,” Anarumo said. “He’s one of the smarter football players I’ve been around, and I think he’ll continue to get better as he stays with us and practices.”

Ward feels fine physically.

He needs to shake off the mental toll of the last month and a half. A player who quickly built a reputation with the Colts for his relentless competitiveness has to get back in the right mindset for the task at hand, a difficult task considering Indianapolis will likely deploy him against the other team’s best receiver every week as the Colts chase the playoffs down the stretch.

“I’ve just got to get my mind right and my heart right,” Ward said. “My physical body, the way I perform, I think that will be good. As long as my mind’s cloudy, I don’t really play good all the time. I’m just trying to focus in, lock in. Get focused, and I think I’ll start playing better.”

With Gardner out, the Colts need the Ward they saw at the beginning of the season.

Indianapolis is going to need that Ward even when Gardner comes back.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Charvarius Ward knows Colts need true No. 1 with Sauce Gardner out