​Sauce Gardner had been asking – no, nearly begging – for more targets in the months leading into his first full season as an Indianapolis Colt. The two-time All-Pro and 2022 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year became known early in his career as a lockdown corner on an otherwise struggling defense. Opposing quarterbacks learned quickly to look the other way.It meant Gardner was doing much of his job on reputation alone and when the balls were coming his way, he rarely turned them into interceptions. He has just one pick since the start of 2023.Gardner would never say he felt he had something to prove in 2026, but being partnered with fellow All-Pro Charvarius Ward, the ex-Jet couldn’t wait to see what his fifth year might bring.Sunday in London was a day to forget.Buy Colts ticketsGardner surrendered more than 100 receiving yards when he was the nearest defender in coverage for the first time in his career, according to Next Gen Stats. On five targets, Gardner gave up 117 receiving yards, the ninth touchdown of his career and first of the season.Sunday’s 30-13 Colts victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was one of three games in his NFL career where Gardner has given up a perfect passer rating when targeted (158.3), according to Next Gen Stats.“If you’re playing corner in the NFL, you better have thick skin because I don’t care who you are, you’re going to get beat. That’s this league,” Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said Tuesday. “It’s always got to be a next play mentality for those guys.”But as Anarumo and Gardner have explained since Sunday’s victory – one where the team’s star corner was credited with giving up two chunk plays for 47 and 48 yards on back-to-back offensive plays for Washington – the raw numbers don’t tell the full story.“Does Sauce want those couple of plays back? Sure,” Anarumo said. “But is it all on Sauce on those particular plays? No.”On the first play in question – a 47-yard touchdown pass from Commanders third-string quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis to former first-round pick receiver Treylon Burks – Gardner said after the game he heard someone yell, “Ball, ball, ball!” and then watched Burks pause and look back to the quarterback approaching the 25-yard-line. Instinctively, Gardner hit the brakes to try and make a play for a ball that wasn’t there.The Commanders receiver turned the burners back on and sprinted toward the end zone. Forced to react, Gardner lost a step. Thrown off, too, by the receiver’s move, A.J. Haulcy was out of position to make a play, and Burks caught the ball at the 4-yard-line and strolled into the end zone.Speaking about both chunk pass plays Tuesday, Anarumo made clear that neither long catch was a breakdown in assignments by either his corner or his safety.“Burks damn near stopped his route and looked back for the ball, and the ball didn’t come, and he kept running. Sauce kind of got a little bit tangled up and lost him,” Anarumo said