​WESTFIELD – Carlie Irsay-Gordon set the stage for the Colts’ offseason in January with a simple phrase. Her mantra that will power Indianapolis’ 2026 season – which will likely determine the future of her general manager, head coach and other cornerstones of the franchise – is a continuation of that mindset.In deciding to keep general manager Chris Ballard for his 10th season in Indianapolis, despite five-straight playoff-less campaigns, and head coach Shane Steichen, despite a losing record (25-26) in three seasons, Irsay-Gordon repeated some form of the phrase “the urgency has never been higher.”This fall, the Colts, Irsay-Gordon said, need to “find a way.”“As we reflected on last season, this one phrase just kept coming up, and that was to ‘find a way,’ and so that was the mantra we settled on for this season. We came to ‘find a way’ because we thought about, ‘What are the qualities that successful people have?’” Irsay-Gordon told reporters Friday after Day 3 of Colts training camp. “Those qualities are consistency, resilience, facing adversity and, most importantly, the mental toughness.“I know and believe that, on our roster and in our organization, we have everything we need this year to get where we need to go.”Following a dominant 8-2 start that placed Indianapolis atop the AFC entering the team’s bye week in November powered by the league’s top offense, the Colts’ suffered a series of debilitating injuries to their starting quarterback – twice – both starting cornerbacks, their All-Pro veteran defensive tackle and key cogs of one of the best offensive lines in the league. And through it all, five of the Colts’ final seven losses to close the year came by single digits with a combined deficit of 23 points in all. At 8-9, the Colts ultimately finished three games out of the AFC’s final wild card spot and five behind the class of the AFC South.Despite the disastrous losing streak, there was never a sense the franchise, the coaching staff or the locker room ever gave up – they brought in Philip Rivers after a five-year retirement to quarterback three of the team’s final four games while still on the fringe of the playoff hunt after Daniel Jones tore his Achilles. But in hindsight, Irsay-Gordon said, it was a team that struggled to “find a way,” in part, because the franchise as a whole hadn’t tasted success in half a decade.Leadership traded away or let walk seven starters from last year’s team, including two of the team’s longest-tenured Colts in Michael Pittman Jr. and Zaire Franklin. But the team also spent handsomely to keep Jones, who won the starting quarterback role last year in camp, and rising top wide receiver Alec Pierce. The result after the dust settled from free agency is a 2026 version of the Colts that’s younger and faster but in many ways unproven on defense, with an offense to complement it that has much of the potential as a year ago but can’t afford hardly any inju