WEDNESDAY, 8:02am: The Colts are realistically expecting Luck to be out a month, and are preparing for an even longer absence, a league source tells Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 2:05pm: Colts quarterback Andrew Luck will be sidelined for the next two to six weeks due to a lacerated kidney and a partial tear of an abdominal muscle, the team announced today. With Indianapolis heading into its bye week, Luck may not miss many games, but it’s still a significant blow for a club clinging to a half-game lead in the AFC South.
“It’s way too early to guess how long Andrew will be out,” Chuck Pagano said in a statement. “We’re going to keep listening to the doctors and evaluating his progress on a week by week basis. We’ve got all the confidence in the world in Matt Hasselbeck and we’re not going to put Andrew back out there until he’s healed and ready to go.”
It’s been a rough season so far for Luck, who was sidelined a shoulder injury earlier in the year and reportedly played with broken ribs in recent weeks. The former first overall pick has only won two of his seven starts, having completed just 55.3% of his passes, with 12 interceptions and a career-low 6.4 yards per attempt.
Sunday’s performance against the Broncos was a high point so far in 2015 for both the Colts and Luck, but that victory came at a price. According to Pagano, Luck sustained his injuries early in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, meaning he was able to play through them in order to finish the game.
With Luck sidelined, and expected to recover without requiring surgery, Indianapolis will once again turn to Hasselbeck, who won both of his starts when he filled in for Luck in Weeks 4 and 5. If Luck is unable to return for six weeks, his 40-year-old backup would face the Falcons in Week 11, followed by the Buccaneers, Steelers, Jaguars, and Texans.
The game vs the Steelers could see Hasselbeck vs Landry Jones?
This would be a crushing blow in most years, but given how bad the AFC South is, the Colts could still re-emerge decently from this. That’s not really a grueling stretch that the Hasselbeck-led Colts couldn’t negotiate and retain the division lead upon Luck’s return.