While much has been made of the supposedly deteriorating relationship between Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano and GM Ryan Grigson, it seems another constant within the Colts front office may be what's really creating that tension that has helped push the Colts to a stunning 0-2 start to the 2015 NFL season - team owner Jim Irsay. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweeted on Tuesday after the Colts' abysmal losing effort against the New York Jets on Monday night that if you really want to get to the bottom of why there are festering issues in Indy, you have to start with Irsay.
La Canfora reported earlier this offseason that Irsay had essentially set a Super Bowl-or-bust mandate for Pagano and the team prior to the season, potentially courting "dysfunction" as he forces the franchise into a strange situation wherein his "ungraceful handling" of Pagano's contract remains a focus for far longer than it rightly should.
With the team struggling, whispers suggesting that whatever issues already plagued the Colts front office have worsened, have already begun to emerge.
Stephen Holder of the Indy Star fired off a series of tweets after Pagano's post-Jets game press conference, indicating that Pagano's harsh words were directed at Grigson and decisions he has made that Pagano has in the past, "protested" internally.
My translation: 1) Luck looking flustered under pressure, which is unusual 2) Grigson's OL sucks. https://t.co/EcOnEeUcyQ
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) September 22, 2015
Pagano has quietly protested some things internally during the last few years. That's closest he's come to doing it publicly IMO. — Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) September 22, 2015
This thing, to me, is on the verge of getting really ugly. If they don't get a win on Sunday, Pagano's head might explode.
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) September 22, 2015
If Holder is correct and the Colts can't emerge from what once looked like a surefire win against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, the growing problems in Indianapolis may reach a sort of crescendo. It will be hard to determine just where to point the finger of blame if things reach that point, but to hear at least one NFL insider tell it, the rest of the league doesn't believe it should be pointing at Pagano.
I'll say this about the Colts' situation -- There is a lot of sympathy thru the NFL for Chuck Pagano from coaches and personnel people. — Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) September 22, 2015
