Colts hope to clean up defensive communication by having LB Akeem Davis-Gaither relay play calls

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts' play-calling experiment on defense is over after just one game.

Coach Shane Steichen announced Wednesday linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither will wear the “green dot” radio helmet Sunday at Kansas City instead of safety Cam Bynum.

Each team designates one offensive and one defensive player to use the radio helmet to get play calls from coaches and relay them to teammates. Most teams rely on quarterbacks and linebackers for the task.

The move comes three days after a 41-23 season-opening loss to Baltimore. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson sometimes took advantage of Indy's defense by quickly snapping the ball, forcing Bynum to make calls on the fly as he sprinted from deep coverage to the huddle.

"There's a reason linebackers do it for the most part,” Bynum said following Steichen's news conference. “It wasn't easy, for sure. I knew that if we had to, I could get it done. But being a good veteran, I think he (Davis-Gaither) is really up for it, for sure.”

Bynum said he did not take offense to the change and instead thought it would help the team.

The Colts (0-1) gave up 506 yards. Jackson threw for at least 300 yards for the 10th time in his career while Derrick Henry continued to run through the Colts, piling up 144 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

On Monday, Steichen told reporters the defense needed to improve its communication and its tackling. He did not blame Bynum for the problems but opted to make the change Tuesday.

“We worked through that yesterday and we’re going to have Akeem do that,” Steichen said Wednesday. “I think it’s going to be better for everyone to communicate. It’ll free up Cam on the back end as well to communicate with those guys. We’ve got a lot of respect for Cam. He knows the defense really well, but I think it’s just going to be better from a communications standpoint for everybody.”

Bynum believes it will also help free him up to communicate better with the rest of the secondary without trying to race back to the huddle listening to the radio.

Indy considered giving second-round draft pick CJ Allen the “green dot” during the offseason, but Allen's calf and hamstring injuries slowed his progression and though he dressed Sunday, he did not play any defensive snaps. Allen said he hopes to change that against the Chiefs.

The injury prompted Indy to let Bynum work with the radio at training camp and while the starters' snaps were limited in preseason games, he used it during practices and specifically in joint practices the Colts had with New England and Atlanta.

Now they're designating Davis-Gaither, who signed with Indy as a free agent in March after spending his first five seasons in Cincinnati, all with second-year Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, and last year with Arizona.

He had eight tackles against the Ravens on Sunday and has some experience working with Anarumo on the radio during games.

“I'm definitely comfortable with this, done it a few times in live games,” Davis-Gaither said, noting he did it four or five times with the Bengals. “I definitely think it's going to help calm the back end down. That's got to be tough trying to run to get into your reads, your keys and stuff like that, making adjustments. So I mean it will definitely help calm everybody down.”