Indianapolis looks to Jacksonville

INDIANAPOLIS – After a three-day break in the practice schedule, the Indianapolis Colts began preparing Monday for their AFC South showdown with the Jacksonville Jaguars.\nThe Colts (9-2) have a one-game lead in the division. A win on Sunday would give Tony Dungy’s team a sweep in the season series and a cushion in its hunt for a fifth straight AFC South title. Jacksonville would move into a tie for the division lead with a win.\nShortly after Sunday’s 36-14 win over Buffalo, Jaguars running back Fred Taylor referred to the upcoming meeting with Indianapolis as the “championship” of the AFC South.\nDungy agreed.\n“Well, it is a big game,” he said. “I mean you have to look at it that way. I think they’ve got to feel like if they don’t win this game, they’re going to have a tough time winning the division. We’ve got the tiebreaker edge right now. If we beat them, we’ll have a sweep and it will be very tough for them.”\nIt’s not yet known if any of the Colts’ injured players, such as Pro Bowl wide receiver Marvin Harrison, will be able to take part in any of this week’s workouts. Harrison has missed six of the past seven games with a bruised left knee.\n“We’re hoping that Marvin will be back and ready to go in practice, and if he’s able to do that and play, it’s going to be a big lift to us,” Dungy said.\nDungy said the availability for safety Matt Giordano, linebacker Tyjuan Hagler and offensive linemen Ryan Diem and Charlie Johnson will be hard to determine before Wednesday’s practice.\nGiordano has been sidelined for four of the past five games with a strained hamstring. Hagler, meanwhile, continues to nurse a neck injury and has missed the last four games. Diem did not play in Atlanta and saw limited work against Kansas City after incurring an ankle injury against San Diego three weeks ago.\nJohnson is also rehabbing a sore ankle, which has limited his effectiveness for the past three weeks.\nRookie offensive tackle Tony Ugoh, who has not played since he injured his neck against the Jaguars six weeks ago, could return to the starting lineup.\nGetting some of those players back will help Dungy and his coaching staff re-establish some much needed consistency to the team’s practice routine.\n“We aren’t as sharp as we need to be, because we haven’t been together and haven’t been practicing as much and as well as we need to,” Dungy said. “Again, hopefully we can get that straightened out in December.”\nDungy said if some of those players return, the Colts have a chance to have a strong finish.\n“I think our team really feels like we’re sitting at 9-2 and we haven’t probably played our best football maybe since the (first) Jacksonville game,” he said.