Indianapolis Colts Linebacker Darius Leonard: ‘Everybody is Counting Us Out’

If anyone embraces the underdog mentality, it’s Indianapolis Colts All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard. So being a touchdown underdog for a playoff game at the Buffalo Bills suits “The Maniac” just fine.

INDIANAPOLIS — Not that the Indianapolis Colts nor All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard ever needed added motivation, but they’re embracing being underdogs in the playoffs.

Then again, that’s been Leonard's M.O. since his NFL arrival as a second-round selection in 2018, a pick that was questioned because he came from a small college, South Carolina State.

“The Maniac” sounded off on Wednesday about how oddsmakers and media analysts are looking at the second-seeded Buffalo Bills (13-3) as touchdown favorites in Saturday’s AFC Wild Card playoff game against the seventh-seeded Colts (11-5) at Bills Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y.

“I feel like for me, there is never any pressure,” Leonard said. “Like coach (Frank Reich) said, when you are the seventh seed everybody expects you to fail, that’s the mindset. Everybody is saying you will fail. I looked at something today, it was pretty crazy that everybody said that the Bills are going to win, everybody is counting us out.

“So we can just go in there and just be us. We don’t have to do anything more, we don’t have to do anything less. We just have to be us, control what we can control – that is playing great fundamental football and hopefully come out with a victory. Pressure? No, pressure, we don’t have any pressure on us. I think we are very relaxed and we just have to step up whenever the play comes.”

Reich, a backup quarterback who played 10 of 14 seasons for the Bills, was asked Monday about liking the underdog role.

“That’s a fair assessment,” the third-year head coach said. “I do feel that. I’d rather be the one seed, but I do feel good about our team, more than anything. The pressure is not on us. We should be in there, we should be loose, we should be aggressive, we should be freed up to just play our best game of the year against a really good football team because essentially like you said, in reality, no one is going to give us a chance. It’s that us-against-the-world mentality and that’s all you need. When you’re with this team the way I am day in and day out, you would know where I get the confidence to feel like we have the team to beat anybody in this tournament.”

Darius Leonard shouts after a road win at Houston this season :: Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports

Leonard, 25, prides himself in bringing more intensity to the field than anyone. To suggest otherwise prompts a discerning eyebrow. When you do everything at 100 mph, be it practice or a game, there’s no such thing as a playoff game requiring more juice.

“I’m the same person every day. Same exact person day in and day out,” Leonard said. “You see me in the preseason game, I’m acting crazy. You see me in the regular-season game, I’m acting crazy – Monday night, Thursday night, I’m the same guy. If you’re the same guy every single time you step on the field, you’ll never have to get ready, you’ll never have to do anything (different).

“That’s why when you talk about pressure, there is no pressure because that’s who I am and I’ve been practicing and doing this my whole life, so when the time comes I’m just still continuing to be me. I don’t have to step up or anything, I just have to continue to do what I can do.”

Leonard was named NFL Defensive Player of the Week on Wednesday after making 10 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, and defending two passes in a Sunday home win over Jacksonville.

Always keen on looking for the motivational edge, Leonard mentioned how since he’s entered the league he’s defeated every linebacker taken before him in the 2018 draft. That includes Buffalo middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, who was selected 16th overall. The Colts beat the Bills 37-5 in 2018.

Leonard has 366 career tackles, 15 sacks, nine forced fumbles, seven interceptions, and 22 passes defended. Edmunds has 322 career tackles, 5.5 sacks, one safety, two forced fumbles, three interceptions, and 24 passes defended. Both were named to the Pro Bowl in 2019 and 2020. But Leonard was selected first-team All-Pro in 2018 and second-team All-Pro in 2019.

“I have a point to prove,” Leonard said. “Every linebacker you all say is better than me, I want to go out each and every week to show I can be better and I can outwork ‘em. That’s the mindset and that’s the goal.”