INDIANAPOLIS — Sauce Gardner spent Monday studying video of the Cleveland Browns. By the following day, he had moved on to preparing to face the Atlanta Falcons. On Sunday, he’s expected to be on the football field — with the Indianapolis Colts for the NFL’s first regular-season game in Berlin.
It’s been a whirlwind week for the two-time All-Pro cornerback, who was dealt by the New York Jets to the Colts at the trade deadline on Tuesday. He flew to Indianapolis that night, two days before the Colts flew to Germany.
In between flights, he was getting acclimated to a new city, new coaches and a different opponent. And after clearing the concussion protocol at midweek, he’s set to make his Colts debut on the international stage. Gardner was sidelined for what would have been his final game with the Jets, their 39-38 win against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 26 after an 0-7 start to the season, and the team’s open date followed that victory.
“I’ve barely slept, so I’m looking forward to that flight,” Gardner said Thursday in his first public comments since he was traded. “It’s like every single minute that I’ve had here in Indianapolis, I’m doing something. Whether it’s with the trainers, whether it’s filling out paperwork, practice, watching film. Obviously it’s midseason, so it’s been like the craziest 48 hours.”
Gardner, 25, seems at peace with how things ended up. Though he said he never requested a trade by the Jets, who selected him with the No. 4 pick of the 2022 draft, he welcomed the move that sent him from a struggling team that could wind up with next year’s No. 1 draft pick to one that sits the AFC South Division standings, appears poised to snap a four-year playoff drought, and delivered a loud, clear message that it’s all-in for a potential Super Bowl run.