Tillery hasn’t listened to media criticism in the weeks leading up to the draft https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Kemoko-Turay-Jersey , he’s heard questions about his game from teams. And there’s one question in particularly with which he disagrees.“I’ve heard, ‘Does Jerry Tillery love football?'” Tillery told PFT on Wednesday. “I think that’s inaccurate and unfair.”So why does he gets that question?“I don’t know, I can’t speak for people,” Tillery said. “I can tell you the work I’ve put into being the best defensive lineman in the world, being the best in this draft. . . . I’m looking to show that next year.”He may love football Anthony Castonzo Jersey , but he probably didn’t love practice during his first three seasons at Notre Dame.“My freshman, sophomore, and junior year, the left side of our offensive line was Quinten Nelson and Mike McGlinchey, two pretty good football players in this league Ryan Kelly Color Rush Jersey ,” Tillery said. “That kind of molds you as a player. They definitely helped me become a better player and I made them better as well. We had a lot of great battles for sure.”Tillery was facing no battles of any kind of Wednesday, conducting the interview from Hawaii, where he has escaped the pre-draft stress while he waits on Thursday or Friday night for the phone to ring. After visits to eight different teams and with a shoulder that has fully healed after recent surgery, that phone definitely will be ringing. Andrew Luck‘s retirement has been the biggest story around the Colts since the quarterback announced his plans on Saturday, but the team tried to turn attention back toward the season to come on Wednesday.The team hosted their annual kickoff luncheon and the theme of comments from team owner Jim Irsay https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Margus-Hunt-Jersey , General Manager Chris Ballard, head coach Frank Reich and others was that it was time to move forward. Ballard said the Colts have a good team and there will be “no excuses” if they fail to live up to their potential.Irsay made it clear that he believes that potential is very high regardless of who won’t be in the lineup against the Chargers in Week One.“I can’t tell you how excited I am to see this football team, because I don’t guess that we’re better — I know that we are better,” Irsay said. “These things are real from guys that absolutely have proven themselves to be great football players. And I know it’s about our team, not about any one individual. . . . That’s what happens when you have belief Peyton Manning Jersey , when you have conviction, when you trust the next man up, when you have no explanations or excuses, when you demand excellence from everyone.”The Colts opened last season 1-5 before winning nine of their last 10 games to advance to the postseason. They won a game in Houston in the playoffs and topping those results in the wake of Luck’s retirement would make for quite a story in Indianapolis.