FORT LAUDERDALE — As Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell sees it, things have been as normal as possible thus far, and as familiar as possible, too.
Now, the task is to keep things that way.
With two days remaining before Super Bowl XLIV, Caldwell on Friday had his final meeting with the nation’s media, using it to update for a final time the pregame status of Colts DE Dwight Freeney and stating the objective entering the weekend:
Stick to the routine.
“Everything has gone well,” Caldwell said as the AFC Champion Colts (16-2) prepared to play the NFC Champion New Orleans Saints (15-3) in Super Bowl XLIV at Sun Life Stadium Sunday at 6:25 p.m.
“We’re looking forward to the next few days in preparation for the game.”
That routine won’t vary much from the Colts’ last Super Bowl appearance: a 29-17 victory over Chicago in Super Bowl XLIV, also in South Florida.
“We haven’t deviated much from what we had done previously,” Caldwell said. “I don’t believe in changing things, just for the sake of change. We’ve talked about focus and we’ve talked about the little things in terms of trying to keep distractions out of the way and particularly out of our preparation.
“I think our guys have done a great job with that.”
Because of the bigness of the Super Bowl, Caldwell said keeping a routine is critical.
“This game is so big,” Caldwell said. “It’s gotten so much attention obviously that you can sometimes get out of whack and think you have to do things differently – a little extra time and things of that nature. We don’t believe that’s required.
“We try to keep things as close to normal as we possibly can. . . . It really isn’t anything different than we would normally do on a game weekend.”
Caldwell said the hours leading to the game, waiting in a hotel, aren’t as nerve-wracking as many might believe, and that the key is to not vary what a player would do normally.
“If a guy ate a pizza on Thursday night, then he should’ve eaten a pizza,” Caldwell said. “If a guy relaxes and takes a nap on Friday afternoon, then he ought to take a nap. We try to stay as close as we possibly can. It’s not a long wait.
“Nevertheless, I think that they’ll be able to manage it and I think we will.”
Caldwell on Friday also spoke of his first meeting with the team as head coach, on March 16, the opening of the team’s offseason program. Caldwell said he promised that day the Colts would be a hungry, fresh, well-prepared team.
“I think we did that in terms of the regular season and I do believe we started that way in terms of the playoffs,” he said. “Now, my mission and goal is to have that same type of fire and enthusiasm, obviously, for Sunday’s game.
“That won’t take a lot of prodding. The guys are ready to play and they’re certainly focused.”
