If there were questions about how the new, glossy four-year, $84 million contract might impact DeForest Buckner, the answers were quick and powerful in coming once he got into the Indianapolis Colts’ COVID-19 delayed training camp.

Friday he made some plays that caused head coach Frank Reich to take notice. Sunday the Colts defensive tackle plowed through the offensive line and swatted a Philip Rivers pass attempt that landed in the mitts of safety Tavon Wilson.

“You can see (Buckner’s) movements, you can see his strength, his size (6 feet, 7 inches, 295 pounds), his power, and quickness,” Reich told the media Monday. “… I just think his presence on the defense is going to really ignite a lot of good things on defense.”

Since the mid-March trade that sent him from the Super Bowl runner-up San Francisco 49ers to the Colts for the 13th overall draft pick, Buckner has significantly sought to raise the bar on performance — and not just to be commensurate with his salary.

For Buckner, a Waianae native who starred at Punahou School and Oregon before becoming the seventh overall pick of the 49ers in the 2016 NFL Draft, it is about attaining an elite level he believes his play can earn him.

Asked in a Colts media session if he sometimes feels slept on, Buckner said, “I do believe I’m slept on. It’s all good. It just fuels a fire for me. It keeps me on my toes, it keeps me motivated to really get my name out there and prove myself in this league. And honestly it’s only benefited me.”

Buckner said, “That’s my entire career. Every year, I’m coming out and playing with a chip on my shoulder. Even if the recognition doesn’t come, I let my play speak for itself.”

With the Colts, Buckner has set goals that, meeting them, would fairly scream his name. They include helping the Colts to a Super Bowl championship, being named a Pro Bowl starter and breaking Michael Strahan’s 19-year old NFL single-season sack record of 22.5.

“I mean, if you play D-line and that’s not your goal, I don’t know (why) you’re playing D-line,” Buckner said.

Buckner has 28.5 sacks in his four campaigns with a single-season best of 12 in 2018, a year in which he was a Pro Bowl alternate. But now, in Indianapolis, he joins forces with defensive end Justin Houston and they think the pairing up will help both of them.

“When you have someone like (Buckner) up the middle, that just changes your whole defensive game,” Houston told Colts.com.

Initially, Buckner said the trade from San Francisco came with a jolt.

“Yeah, I mean it’s always tough. When you play your heart out for an organization and you’re obviously one of the key guys, obviously you build a lot of lifelong relationships there and everything. To find the fact that you are a possibility to be traded, I mean obviously with any person or any guy in this profession it would kind of hurt a little bit. But at the same time you can’t take it personal because it’s the business of the game. It’s the business we chose. The only thing that I can control is my attitude moving forward and I’m just blessed to have this opportunity.”

Buckner said, “The fact that this organization is willing to believe in me and bring me in – feeling wanted and needed at a certain place, it feels good. I’m just excited to be able to show everyone what I can bring to the table.”

That show figures to just be starting.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.