-- — ANDERSON — Sometimes with age comes a reluctance to change, not just in athletics but in life.

Wide receiver Reggie Wayne had a chance to change teams and decided to stay in Indianapolis. But this season with the Colts, change might still be a big part of the 33-year-old’s outlook.

“It’s changed, just the ages just kind of went up, my number kind of fell down that chart,” said Wayne. “We got rid of Jeff Saturday and those guys.

So now I’m kind of close to the oldest guy now. Other than that, it’s all the same. I’m still going to be vocal when I need to be vocal. I’ll still lead by example when it’s time to do that. Whenever coaches need me to do something, I’ll be there to do it. Nothing’s changed for me.”

So it’s changed or not?

Well it seems that at least Wayne acknowledges that finding him on the field might be a bit tougher for the fans — and perhaps for the defense.

“I’m excited about it,” he said. “I have a little bit more freedom to do some things. It is what it is. I’ve enjoyed being on the left side, on the island by myself, for many years. It’s time to change that up. Whatever role they want me to do, if they want me to be in the backfield, I’ll bite the bullet and get in the backfield. It’s good to finally be able to move around and do other things.”

So Sunday is the first chance for many of the new pieces to examine how they will fit, Wayne being no exception.

“It’s a good opportunity to go out there and show the coaches what you can do, that’s including myself,” he said. “This is a new offense. So I’m eager to go out there and show the coaches that I can play in this offense and show my teammates I can be accountable. I’m sure everybody on this team is eager to do the same. We’ve been seeing the same colors, blue and white, for the last couple weeks. We finally got an opportunity to go out there and do something.”

The opportunity to show much of anything Sunday against St. Louis might be limited for the veterans.

“We will monitor the veteran guys, like Reggie (Wayne), Dwight (Freeney), Robert (Mathis), guys that have been doing this for a long, long time they won’t be out there very long,” said head coach Chuck Pagano. “We know what  those guys can do, but we got to find out about all these other guys.”