TERRE HAUTE - Indianapolis Colts
wide receiver Reggie Wayne arrived at training camp riding shotgun in a dump truck, wearing a hard hat.

The front of his hat read “Wayne's Construction,” and the side read “Super Bowl Under Construction.” He wore a safety vest, goggles and dirty boots and carried a lunch pail. You could say he hammered home his point.

“Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see we're under construction for the Super Bowl,” Wayne said Sunday. “We have the blueprints to make this thing a success. We're here ready to work.”

Wayne has a history of making memorable entrances to the Colts' training camp at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He arrived with Edgerrin James in a taxi-cab one year. He wore James' Arizona Cardinals uniform the year Edge left the Colts. He dressed in camouflage one year.

The construction worker's role was, as he clarified, a statement on the work the Colts have to accomplish in order to remain an NFL contender.

“I feel like this year we have some work to do,” Wayne said. “Everybody knows Marv (Harrison) is gone. We have a new defensive coordinator. We have to rank among the highest in the league in young guys playing. There's some work to do, and we have to really get into this and figure it out.”

Wayne didn't even mention the most obvious change for the Colts - the transition of head coach from the retired Tony Dungy to Jim Caldwell.

The first day of the Caldwell Era was set to begin with practice this morning as the 17-day camp opened. Some of the uncertainty of the offseason has settled, as offensive coordinator Tom Moore and offensive line coach Howard Mudd returned to their spots, with “senior” added to the front of their titles.

Wayne's playful role-playing brought some welcome levity to reporting day, and signaled that this year's team will enter the season in an upbeat mood.

The positive vibe was evident when Peyton Manning, who missed camp last year with knee problems, was among the first players to report Sunday.

Manning didn't wear a hard hat, but his prompt arrival signaled his eagerness to begin his 12th season of constructing offensive success.

“That's what I'm most excited about, to get back on the field and go to work,” Manning said. “I've always believed that training camp is when you form the foundation of your team and truly iron out the little details that you're going to need to be on the same page.”

Manning expressed some melancholy about his first training camp without Harrison, the receiver who teamed with him to set the record for most touchdown passes by a quarterback-receiver combination in NFL history.

Harrison asked to be released after last season and became an unrestricted free agent. He has yet to sign with another team.

Manning said he sent Dungy and Harrison text messages Sunday telling them he would miss having them in camp.

“I think it will probably sink in even more, probably the most, when we play that first preseason game against Minnesota,” Manning said. “Because that's really all that I've ever known is (No.) 88 will be out on the right.”

For his part, Caldwell good-naturedly said he welcomes the inevitable comparisons to Dungy, who led the Colts to a record six straight 12-win seasons and a Super Bowl win after the 2006 season.

Caldwell told a story about when he was working at Penn State early in his career and Penn State coach Joe Paterno was signing autographs at a table next to Muhammad Ali. Ali's autograph line was lengthy. Paterno's was light.

“(Paterno) made a quip, ‘Hey, Ali, why do you have the long line with all the girls and all the guys interested in talking to you?' ” Caldwell said. “He looked over at Joe and said, ‘Because you ain't whipped anybody yet.'

“I haven't whipped anybody yet,” Caldwell said. “When that time comes and this team starts doing things they can do, I think (comparisons to Dungy) will even out a little bit.”

Caldwell should have a relatively healthy roster of players for most of the camp, save for perennially hobbled safety Bob Sanders, cornerback Marlin Jackson, guard Charlie Johnson and kicker Adam Vinatieri.

Jackson said he's 95 percent healthy.

Before Sanders could talk, Wayne jumped out of his dump truck.

It was just as well. Wayne was much more prepared to “build” anticipation for this season anyway.