There were times Sunday afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium when Gary Brackett must have felt like he was back at Rutgers University, or even Glassboro (N.J.) High School.

Not only was he the Indianapolis Colts middle linebacker in their opener against Jacksonville, in critical situations he was their blitzing ’backer.

“I love to blitz,” said Brackett, who was turned loose a half-dozen times against the Jaguars. “Anybody likes hearing their number called.”

Brackett noted he had numerous blitzing opportunities at Rutgers, and tons at Glassboro.

“In high school,” he said, “you blitzed whenever you felt like it.”

Blitzing always has been part of the Colts’ defensive playbook but was one of those seldom-used chapters under coach Tony Dungy and former coordinator Ron Meeks. They preferred to restrict the pass rush to the four down linemen and deploy the linebackers in coverage.

But when Larry Coyer replaced Meeks in February, he promised to oversee a more aggressive, attacking defense and more blitzing.

Any blitzing would have been more blitzing.

Brackett estimated the Colts blitzed “upwards to 10 times” against Jaguars quarterback David Garrard, who attempted 28 passes.

How did that compare to 2008? Brackett smiled.

“That’s about 10 more than we did last year,” he said, exaggerating to make his point. “Last year that wasn’t really our philosophy; not blitzing. We did have some blitzes in, but more so run blitzes.”

The idea is to get the quarterback out of his comfort zone, not allow him to stand tall in the pocket and get the ball down the field. Mission accomplished.

The Jaguars, safety Melvin Bullitt said, “didn’t get a good chance to really let loose and get the ball going, they had so much pressure on them.”

Although Dwight Freeney had the Colts’ only sack, Garrard was under steady siege. The defense was credited with 10 pressures, resulting in Garrard averaging just 4.36 yards per attempt. Only Carolina’s Jake Delhomme had a more meager yield (4.29) during the opening weekend.

Brackett blitzed on the final two plays of the game. Each produced the desired results.

With the Colts protecting a 14-12 lead and Garrard facing a third-and-7, Brackett joined the pass rush. He found a crease up the middle and hurried Garrard into an incompletion. On fourth-and-7, left end Robert Mathis flushed Garrard to his right, where he met Brackett and right end Freeney.

Brackett went low, Freeney high. Garrard’s desperation pass found only turf.

Previously, offenses have been keenly aware of Freeney and Mathis, as well as Raheem Brock. Now, they’ll have to wonder if a linebacker, cornerback or safety will add to the pressure.

Twice on Sunday, Coyer sent in Bullitt from the slot.

To further enhance the pass rush, the Colts allow Brock and Mathis to stand up prior to the snap and move from side to side.

“We’re trying to disguise everything,” Brock said. "We want to make everything look the same, then mix it up a little bit.

“We can do so much with the defense that Coyer’s given us. It’s endless.”