INDIANAPOLIS — For a long time, few outside the Colts building ever got to see the work Nick Cross has been putting into his NFL career.

The hours he spent in the playbook and film room trying to learn three separate positions. The sessions on the JUGS machine, the grip strength exercises he does to be ready for the right moment.

For the ball Mitch Trubisky finally threw his way on Sunday, a laser of a deep ball into the middle of the field for Steelers star George Pickens, Cross in tight coverage.

A 50-50 ball. The kind the Steelers probably have no problems with their quarterback throwing to Pickens in a one-on-one matchup against a safety, especially a safety as little-known as Cross.

The wrong ball to throw on Saturday night.

Colts news: As Colts secondary injuries mount, why isn’t Nick Cross getting a chance to play?

Cross timed his jump better, out-leaped Pickens and took the ball out of the Pittsburgh receiver’s outstretched hands, making the defensive play that effectively killed any offensive momentum a woeful Steelers offense had built.

His first career interception.

“I feel like the big plays always come when you least expect them,” Cross said. “I try not to think about that. I just try to go out there and do my job and let the plays come to me.”

Up until recently, Cross hadn’t been given many chances to make a play.

Indianapolis traded back into the third round to draft him in 2022, started Cross at strong safety in the first two games and then ultimately sent the rookie back to the bench. In defensive coordinator Gus Bradley’s scheme, the strong safety position is arguably the most complex in the secondary, and the then-21-year-old Cross wasn’t ready. His focus drifted at times; the Colts had Rodney McLeod, a cerebral veteran, ready to step into the role.

While Cross learned, another rookie, free safety Rodney Thomas II, established himself as a starter, leaving a path back into the lineup blocked as Cross began his second season in the NFL.

The Colts responded to an encouraging training camp by asking Cross to back up three separate positions.

“He’s gotta know backup nickel, backup strong, backup free,” Bradley said. “There’s a lot on his plate.”

Cross played just 20 defensive snaps in the first 11 games, excelling as a special teamer but unable to convince the defensive staff to shuffle the secondary in order to get him on the field.

The team’s two most reliable defensive backs, Kenny Moore II and Julian Blackmon, play the nickel and strong safety, the two positions that fit Cross best, and the Colts were reluctant to move either player, even though injuries hit the cornerback position hard.

But he was coming, and eventually Cross was coming so fast that the Colts defensive staff decided he shouldn’t be held back any longer.

“Nick, through practice earlier in the year, has shown marked improvement,” Bradley said. “His concentration level, his endurance from Play 1 to Play 70, has shown he can concentrate and play at a high level through the whole game, and that was when we were like, ‘We’ve got to find a way to get him on the field.’”

An uneven sophomore campaign from Thomas opened a door for Cross, and for the past three games, he’s rotated with Thomas, playing 86 snaps to Thomas' 127, rotating into the free safety spot.

“It gives me a good feel for the game, I’m able to ask Rodney what I need or what is going on out there,” Cross said. “It kind of gives me the answers to the test before I go out there.”

The athleticism has always been there.

Cross ran the 40-yard dash in a blistering 4.34 seconds at the NFL scouting combine, and the Colts traded up to get him in part because of the big-play ability he flashed on tape.

He just needed snaps.

“Any time you get the opportunity to get in, you go and make the most of them,” Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen said.

Cross made his first big play on special teams against Tennessee, blowing through a gap to block a punt that Grant Stuard returned for a touchdown.

That was also the first time Cross was given significant defensive snaps since the start of his rookie season. In the three games he’s played since, Cross has 12 tackles and two pass breakups, plus his highlight-reel pick over Pickens.

“I think I’m going to get (director of equipment operations Sean Sullivan) to paint (the ball),” Cross said. “First interception and all that stuff, put it up in my house.”

Cross should think about putting up a photo of the pick with the ball.

That interception was a long time coming.

And it’d be hard to make it look any better.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts: How young safety Nick Cross finally got on the field