by Sports Xchange

DeVan, who joined the team this past summer after playing for Idaho of the Arena Football League2, has beaten out former 2008 second-round draft pick Mike Pollak for the job. Pollak started seven games this season and has played in eight. He was a pregame inactive against New England.

"(DeVan's a) fighter, a very tough minded individual. He will scratch and dig with the best of them. He's been improving constantly. It's been a good competition between the two (DeVan and Pollak). It's not over yet. We talk about this being a result-oriented business. We tend to not just give that lip service," Indianapolis coach Jim Caldwell said.

"We look at it every single week, as critical as we would if we were losing. If somebody is not playing quite up to par the way they should, we need to address that issue. (We) take the ego out of it, and I think when you do take ego out of it you have an opportunity to look at your weaknesses honestly and address them."

PLAYER NOTES

--WR Hank Baskett (illness) returned to practice Thursday. He sat out Wednesday's workout. Baskett is expected to be available to play Sunday at Baltimore.

--S Antoine Bethea (foot) was held out of practice for a second day Thursday. Bethea remains hopeful of being given the OK to play against the Ravens on Sunday.

--Rookie WR Austin Collie missed Thursday's practice in order to take care of some personal business. Collie is expected to practice on Friday and play at Baltimore this weekend.

--OT Dan Federkeil (concussion) did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. His availability for the Baltimore game won't be decided until Saturday at the earliest.

--DT Eric Foster (back) was held out of practice Wednesday and Thursday. Foster's status for the Ravens game probably won't be decided until Saturday.

--S Aaron Francisco (ankle) continues to nurse an injury that has kept him out of practice since last week. His availability for the Baltimore game won't be known until Friday or Saturday.

--DE Dwight Freeney (rest) missed Thursday's practice to nurse a sore hip. Freeney is expected to be in the starting defensive lineup against the Ravens on Sunday.

--WR Pierre Garcon (ankle) returned to practice on Thursday after missing Wednesday's workout. Garcon's status for the Baltimore game won't be known until Saturday.

--TE Gijon Robinson (concussion) did not take part in workouts Wednesday or Thursday. Robinson's availability for the Baltimore game won't be known until Friday or Saturday.

--LS Justin Snow (elbow) practiced Thursday and should be able to play Sunday against the Ravens. He had held out of Wednesday's workout.

--QB Jim Sorgi (shoulder) has yet to practice this week. Sorgi suffered a sore shoulder last week and saw limited work last Friday.

GAME PLAN: Score in the red zone on offense. Force turnovers and get to the quarterback defensively. It sounds easy. But it won't be against a Baltimore team that would like nothing better to knock off the Colts this week.

Indianapolis has to control the tempo of the game offensively. That means continuing to improve running the football, especially deep in the Ravens end of the field. Don't settle for field goals. Put the ball in the end zone.

Defensively, the Colts have to shore up the run defense and get after Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco. Don't let him get into a comfort zone. Indianapolis did a pretty good job of forcing the action in last year's meeting, but the Ravens quarterback is a year older and has played well this season.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH: Colts QB Peyton Manning vs. Ravens FS Ed Reed. Perhaps the NFL's best quarterback against the league's best free safety, two veteran players who know each other's tricks very well. Watching these two square off in the game-within-the-game will be worth the price of admission.

Ravens QB Joe Flacco vs. Colts DEs Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. Flacco was introduced to Mathis a year ago, who responded with a game-high three sacks. Freeney, meanwhile, played in the game but did not record a sack of the Baltimore rookie.

Colts WR Reggie Wayne vs. Ravens CBs Fabian Washington and Domonique Foxworth. Wayne had eight catches for 118 yards and a touchdown in last year's meeting at Lucas Oil Stadium. Opposing teams have scored 10 touchdowns through the air against Baltimore this year.