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Colts general manager Chis Ballard showed up for a news conference Wednesday – just not the one he expected.

Instead of introducing Josh McDaniels as the team’s new head coach [url=http://www.49ersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dante-pettis-jersey]http://www.49ersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-dante-pettis-jersey[/url] , Ballard stood in front of reporters trying to explain why New England’s longtime offensive coordinator reneged on a deal he initially accepted.

But if Ballard’s disgust about losing his top choice wasn’t clear from the occasional glare or the strong pitch in his voice, he left no doubt with one parting shot.

”The rivalry is back on,” he said before leaving.

Conducting a coaching search in February isn’t what Ballard or Indy envisioned when Chuck Pagano was fired just hours after Indy completed a 4-12 season on Dec. 31.

Exactly 24 hours after announcing McDaniels’ hiring on the team’s Twitter account and roughly 16 hours after he called back to tell Ballard he was out, the search begins anew for the jilted Colts.

Their other finalist, Mike Vrabel, has already taken the Tennessee job. Another top-tier candidate, Mike Nagy, has already been hired in Chicago. Baylor coach Matt Rhule, who also interviewed for the job, is back on campus getting ready for spring football. And it’s unclear where the Colts may turn next.

”We have a list of candidates, I’ve had them from the get-go,” Ballard said. ”There are other guys we wanted to interview, but because of the playoffs, we weren’t able to.

”We’ll move forward with them and we will get the right leader for the Indianapolis Colts – one that believes what we believe and wants to go where we want to go. I’m very confident in this.”

Ballard didn’t name names, of course, nor did he provide a timetable.

Oddly, the timing could present Indy with a unique opportunity to pick off a candidate who might emerge as a top candidate on next year’s coaching carousel.

Several possibilities exist including Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich, who was part of a Super Bowl victory over the Patriots with a backup quarterback.

The good news for Indy is that the only coaching vacancy still looks pretty attractive – if Andrew Luck is healthy.

Indy still has Pro Bowl receiver T.Y. Hilton, Pro Bowl tight end Jack Doyle, a revamped defense that showed major improvement as last season went along, the No. 3 pick in the draft and about $80 million to spend in free agency.

Luck, meanwhile, continues to be the big question as he rehabs from last January’s surgery for a partially torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.

Some believe McDaniels’ sudden change of heart was related to doubts about Luck’s health.

Ballard didn’t bother asking McDaniels why he made the decision.

On Wednesday, though [url=http://www.buccaneersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-vita-vea-jersey]http://www.buccaneersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-vita-vea-jersey[/url] , he attempted to alleviate lingering concerns about Luck while acknowledging the franchise quarterback still hasn’t thrown a football since returning from Europe late last year.

”At this point, we feel very strongly that Andrew is in a good place. He doesn’t need surgery,” Ballard said. ”I have not gotten that from the two doctors that he’s seen here after the season. His strength is good. He’s working on his throwing motion and he’s working on his arm speed right now. He has not picked up a football, but he is throwing balls, working on arm speed.

”He’s going to do everything right to get himself ready to play and I’m very confident, he’s very confident, that he’s going to come back and prove a lot of people wrong,” Ballard added.

McDaniels decision didn’t just leave the Colts in the lurch.

Three assistant coaches – Matt Eberflus, Mike Phair and Dave DeGuglielmo – had already been hired in Indy.

While Ballard said he likes all three and will honor their contracts by keeping them on the next coach’s staff, others strongly criticized McDaniels from walking away from them.

”Haven’t read the article but I can tell you there is NO excuse big enough to justify this,” Dungy wrote on Twitter in response to a story that indicated McDaniels stayed with the Pats because he was more comfortable with the team.

”It’s one thing to go back on your word to an organization. But having assistant coaches leave jobs to go with you then leave them out to dry is indefensible.”

But as the news conference continued, Ballard said people say no to job offers every day, he wished McDaniels well at the end of Tuesday night’s brief call and that his primary concern now is finding someone who wants the job.

”To me, it’s about being right,” Ballard said. ”You’ve got to be right. It doesn’t matter if you’re the first out of the box and everybody praises you or you are the last one to make the hire. We want to be right.”

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OAKLAND, Calif. — Having dipped into the minor leagues for four new players Friday, the Los Angeles Angels plan to do so again Saturday for their starting pitcher when they go for a second straight win against the Oakland Athletics.

The Angels are planning to promote left-hander John Lamb for his first major-league start since 2016, matching him against A’s lefty Sean Manaea (5-6, 3.49 ERA).

Los Angeles placed four players — third baseman Zack Cozart and right-handers Garrett Richards, Nick Tropeano and Jim Johnson — on the disabled list Friday, replacing them with bullpen reinforcements in right-handers Felix Pena, Eduardo Paredes, Jake Jewell and Akeel Morris.

None saw action in Friday’s 8-4 win over Oakland, with left-hander Tyler Skaggs throwing seven strong innings before Cam Bedrosian and Justin Anderson mopped up.

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“Nobody is going to feel sorry for you,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of a roster that now features 15 players on the DL. “We feel we have the guys who can contribute and keep us going. If we can pitch and have our bullpen hold leads, then we’re going to be fine.”

Lamb has battled back issues in the minors since he last threw a big-league pitch for the Cincinnati Reds on July 16, 2016. He went 2-12 with a 6.17 ERA in 24 starts for the Reds in two seasons.

One of those starts was in Cincinnati against the A’s in 2016, a game in which he gave up two home runs, including one by Marcus Semien, in a 6-1 loss. He is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in his career against Oakland based solely on that one appearance.

The A’s had to make an 11th-hour pitching change of their own, starting Manaea in place of Daniel Gossett, who strained his right forearm in his last start.

Manaea hasn’t won since May 14 but pitched well in both of his previous June starts, allowing a total of four runs in 12 2/3 innings.

He matched up with Skaggs, Friday’s winner for the Angels, in the second game of the season back in March, allowing one run in 7 2/3 innings in a 2-1 Oakland loss.

Mike Trout accounted for the only run the Angels scored off Manaea that night with a home run.

Manaea is 1-3 with a 4.30 ERA in seven career starts against the Angels.

Trout’s homer in March was the third of his career against Manaea in just 14 at-bats. He has three other hits, including a triple, among those head-to-heads.

Trout had three hits, all singles, in Friday’s win.

The A’s likely will counter the Angels’ roster move Saturday with one of their own, with third baseman Matt Chapman expected to be placed on the DL with a bruised hand.

Chapman had a 149-game streak of consecutive games played snapped with his absence Friday.

He was replaced at third base in the series opener by Chad Pinder, whose second-inning throwing error led to two unearned runs — two of four the A’s generously gifted the short-handed Angels in the game.