WESTFIELD — Kenny Moore II starts to slip into character the moment the offense breaks its huddle.

The Colts cornerback is always playing a part. While the receiver is lining up in the slot and the quarterback scans the defense, Moore transforms into a cipher.

Hinting he’s heading one way. Hiding his true intentions.

Moore has been one of the league’s best slot cornerbacks for more than half a decade now, a paragon of consistency at a position known for wild swings in play. The reasons are easy to see — his tackling, his ball skills, his ability to rush the passer.

One of the traits that has made him so successful is being intentionally difficult to read.

“I feel like I’m in Hollywood,” Moore said. “I’m trying to give off a type of certain, discreet look.”

Moore’s subterfuge makes a lot of sense.

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NFL defensive coordinators are always trying to disguise their coverages before the snap, intentionally making the secondary look like it’s playing one coverage, only to slip into something else as soon as the ball is snapped.

But it is rare for an individual defensive back to disguise coverages as well as Moore.

Indianapolis slot receiver Josh Downs knows it well. Downs caught 68 passes as a rookie by using an advanced set of football skills to read coverages on fields across the NFL, but he has a harder time reading the defense on the practice fields at Grand Park.

Moore makes it harder than anybody else.

“Last year, I could tell when dudes were playing me (man-to-man), they would just straight-up line up against me,” Downs said. “Kenny will walk around, he’ll pretend.”

Moore’s knack for disguise is something a lot of nickels do not realize they need.

Particularly young players, defensive backs too inexperienced to get into a chess match with a veteran quarterback.

Moore relishes the challenge.

In the city where Peyton Manning became famous for reading defenses like a children’s novel, Moore has quietly raised the reading comprehension a quarterback needs against the Colts to a collegiate level. Early in his time establishing himself as a starter in Indianapolis, Moore had an epiphany.

“I figured out that whenever the quarterback and the offensive opponent breaks the huddle, the quarterback is usually looking at me to try to figure out the type of coverage we’re in,” Moore said.

That plan didn’t sit well with Moore.

He hates giving the offense an edge.

“It’s not only him being a vet,” safety Julian Blackmon said. “It’s the competitor in Kenny.”

Moore doesn’t like to give an inch.

Not even before the snap. Once he realized that offenses like to use the nickel cornerback as a tattletale on the defense’s intentions, Moore started working on taking that ability away.

And he’s gotten pretty good at disguising his intentions.

“Kenny’s been in the league a number of years, he’s been around the block,” Colts defensive backs coach Ron Milus said. “He’s done a good job with the ability to show one coverage, then do something different.”

Moore is not simply trying to make himself hard to read.

He wants to lead the quarterback in the wrong direction. An NFL quarterback’s job is highly dependent on his ability to read defenses, before and after the snap, and Moore has learned the value of taking that advantage away from them.

“I try to do a lot of foolery,” Moore said. “I’m just trying to get the best of the quarterback, get him to throw me the ball, throw the defense the ball.”

Downs has to deal with it in training camp.

Along with Richardson. When the offense walks up to the line of scrimmage at Grand Park, Downs is often exchanging a quick look with the quarterback, hoping for hints.

Moore’s hints simply lead quarterback and receiver in the wrong direction.

“Kenny’s real smart,” Downs said. “He tries to mix it up on me a little bit, switch up his looks.”

Paired with the ball skills that have produced 17 career interceptions, Moore’s strengths have kept him at the top of the nickel game for a long time.

The Colts believe Moore can keep playing at that level for a long time. Indianapolis signed Moore to a three-year, $30 million extension that keeps him around until the age of 31.

The older Moore gets, the better he gets at concealing his intentions from the quarterback on the other sideline, a skill that only helps the Indianapolis coaching staff.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” Milus said. “He’s a veteran, and I am not overcoaching that. … With those guys, you have to give them some leeway. Why would I mess up something he’s been able to do over time?”

An underrated part of Moore’s game.

Worthy of an Oscar or two.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: How Colts CB Kenny Moore disguises his coverages to confuse offenses