Andrew Luck

Latest On Andrew Luck, Colts

August 13th, 2019 at 7:18pm CST by Sam Robinson

Andrew Luck remains sidelined, an issue that has obviously caused some concern for the Colts community due to the quarterback’s recent past. Chris Ballard provided an update on this nagging lower-leg injury, which has persisted for most of the offseason.

Luck initially went in for an MRI on his calf in March, which revealed a strain. But the quarterback began experiencing ankle-area pain by May, Mike Chappell of CBS4 tweets. A test Monday revealed there is an issue in the “high ankle” area, which can be a long-running problem (Twitter link). Over the course of dealing with this calf malady, Luck encountered the ankle trouble, Stephen Holder of The Athletic tweets. Ballard, however, ruled out the prospect his quarterback has an Achilles problem, per the Indianapolis Star’s Joel Erickson (on Twitter).

The Colts are now almost certain to hold Luck out of the preseason slate, Ballard said, adding that the 29-year-old passer will need a certain amount of practice time to be ready for Week 1 (Twitter links). The third-year GM, however, added “This is not 2017,” in terms of the persistent trouble with which Luck is dealing. Luck missed all 16 games that season due to a shoulder injury. He returned to play in all 16 last year, steering the Colts to the playoffs.

No surgery is planned at this point, Ballard added, noting the Colts believe their centerpiece player is progressing (Twitter link). Given that Luck has been held out for so long, his September availability probably should be a concern. The Colts are not ready to go there yet, with Ballard non-committal on Luck’s Week 1 status (per Mike Wells of ESPN.com), but they are certainly looking smart for refusing to trade Jacoby Brissett. The team repeatedly rebuffed such proposals since acquiring the backup from New England.

The Colts open their season with road games against the Chargers and Titans. They begin their Indianapolis slate in Week 3 against the Falcons.

AFC South Notes: Jaguars, Colts, Luck, Allen

August 1st, 2019 at 9:03pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Jaguars rookie linebacker Quincy Williams is expected to miss four-to-six weeks after suffering a slight tear in his meniscus, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Williams, a third-round pick in the 2019 draft, will need to undergo surgery, but given his recovery timeline, he shouldn’t be expected to miss more than a few regular season games. Per Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com, Williams was the “leading candidate” to take over for the retired Telvin Smith as Jacksonville’s weakside linebacker. Williams, the older brother of third overall pick Quinnen Williams, will now likely be replaced by either D.J. Alexander or Ramik Wilson.

Here’s more from the AFC South:

Andrew Luck‘s calf strain is still affecting his ability to practice. The Colts quarterback didn’t participate in practice sessions at all this week and will be re-evaluated on Saturday, per Mike Chappell of CBS 4 Indy, who notes Luck has appeared hesitant while throwing. “Just opening up a little bit,’’ Luck said. “It’s like, ‘I feel like something is going to yank, something is going to pull trying to change direction aggressively.’ That is something that you need to do to play football, you know? And I am not there yet.’’ Luck doesn’t believe his calf injury could lead to an Achilles issue.
Only one NFL rookie received a contract with no offset language in 2019: Jaguars first-round edge rusher Josh Allen, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Without offset language, Jacksonville won’t receive a cap credit if Allen is cut midway through his rookie contract and signs elsewhere. If such language were included, the Jaguars would be off the hook for whatever salary Allen was able to earn on the open market.
In case you missed it, the Texans gave veteran cornerback Johnathan Joseph a raise.

Injury Notes: Brown, Luck, Gore, Watt, Jones, Lawrence

July 26th, 2019 at 4:51pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Here’s the latest on all the injuries to big names as training camps get underway across the league:

There was a brief uproar earlier when it was mysteriously announced that Antonio Brown would start camp on the Raiders’ non-football injury list. However, the as of now undisclosed issue that caused Brown to be placed on the NFI was described to Field Yates of ESPN as “very minor” (Twitter link). Further, Jerry McDonald of the Oakland Tribune tweets that the Raiders have known of the injury for two weeks, and that Brown will probably only miss a week of camp time. Despite the initial panic, it doesn’t sound like this is anything you need to monitor going forward.
Andrew Luck was sidelined by a calf injury during the Colts’ offseason program, which sparked some concerns about his Achilles. However, Luck told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network today “my Achilles is not at extra risk of anything. It’s fine” (Twitter link). In a separate tweet, Pelissero notes Luck participated in team drills today, and that his limited workload has only been precautionary.
Speaking of the NFI, Bills GM Brandon Beane said that running back Frank Gore has been removed from it, per longtime Bills beat reporter Joe Buscaglia (Twitter link). Gore had been dealing with a minor injury, but has passed his physical and is cleared to practice. Gore will be competing for carries in a crowded Buffalo backfield that also features LeSean McCoy and rookie Devin Singletary.
J.J. Watt started camp on the Texans’ PUP list, but he’s now been removed and cleared to practice, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Watt was limited to just eight combined games in 2016 and 2017 due to injuries, but he played a full 16-game slate last year. Watt wasn’t the only Texan to get cleared, as James Palmer of NFL Network tweets that DeAndre Hopkins was also cleared and activated from PUP.
Byron Jones, DeMarcus Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford and Noah Brown will start camp on the PUP list for the Cowboys, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.com. Fortunately, Dallas is expecting all of them to be ready for the start of the season. Lawrence had offseason shoulder surgery, Jones had surgery on his hip, and Crawford is also dealing with a hip injury. Last we heard, there had been no progress in extension talks between the team and Jones.

Andrew Luck Suffers Calf Strain

May 30th, 2019 at 12:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

While this has been the smoothest offseason Andrew Luck has gone through in years, the Colts quarterback has run into a slight issue unrelated to his litany of shoulder trouble. Luck is sitting out OTAs because of a calf strain, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

Luck suffered this injury earlier this offseason, per Pelissero. The Colts began their latest set of OTAs on Wednesday. They will convene for the final round of OTA workouts next week. It does not sound like their eighth-year passer will participate in those sessions. Indianapolis’ minicamp is scheduled for June 11-13.

Although the 29-year-old passer running into the same injury designation that has kept Kevin Durant out of the past several Warriors playoff games is notable, Pelissero adds Luck would start were a game scheduled for today. So this does not appear to be cause for too much concern, Luck’s recent history of setbacks notwithstanding.

At this point last year, Luck had not yet resumed throwing an NFL-sized football. He returned to Pro Bowl form last season and has reclaimed his spot as one of the league’s best quarterbacks, pointing to the caution the Colts are showing.

The Colts recently signed Chad Kelly and have Jacoby Brissett entering a contract year. Third-year UDFA Phillip Walker is also on Indianapolis’ roster, so the Colts will divvy up reps to Luck’s younger backups for the time being.

Extra Points: Mack, Rams, Rodgers, Luck

September 10th, 2018 at 9:17pm CST by Ben Levine

We previously heard that the Rams had made a bid on Khalil Mack, but the Raiders rejected the offer because the picks were going to be too low. Tonight, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported (via Twitter) that Los Angeles ultimately offered Oakland a first- and third-round pick.

However, the Rams didn’t see much of a future with Mack, especially after handing Aaron Donald a lucrative $135MM extension. Schefter notes that the team would have turned around and traded the impending free agent (presumably after he inked his franchise tag) this offseason. The team was trying to go “all in” on the upcoming campaign, with the hope that they could pair Mack with Donald, Ndamukong Suh and Michael Brockers.

Instead, Mack was dealt to the Bears, who then signed the pass rusher to a six-year, $141 million deal. The 27-year-old had a big game in his debut with Chicago, collecting three tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a pick-six.

Let’s take a look at some more notes from around the NFL…

Raiders coach Jon Gruden sat down to discuss the Mack trade with ESPN’s Lisa Salters, noting that the star player “obviously” didn’t want to be in Oakland. “Obviously, Khalil Mack didn’t want to play here,” Gruden said (via Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com). “That’s what’s being missed here. He was under contract, Lisa. He was under contract. He never showed up for an OTA, never showed up for a training camp and it was obvious he wasn’t going to show up for the season. Don’t forget that. We have to get ready to play and I want players that want to be here, that want to help us put this thing back in high gear.”
Aaron Rodgers sat out three series during last night’s contest before leading the Packers to a comeback victory over the Bears. While the quarterback may have tossed three second-half touchdowns, he’s not a sure-thing for next weekend’s game against the Vikings. Head coach Mike McCarthy didn’t give any indications as to whether the team would start Rodgers or backup DeShone Kizer on Sunday. “We do have some information and no decision has been made,” McCarthy said (via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com). “We’re still collecting all the information.” NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that Rodgers is pushing to play, and the team will continue to monitor the swelling in his knee as the week goes on.
We learned earlier today that Texans cornerback Kevin Johnson was going to miss several weeks as he recovered from a concussion. Fortunately, it sounds like reinforcement is around the corner, as coach Bill O’Brien told ESPN’s Sarah Barshop that cornerback Kayvon Webster is trending in the right direction as he recovers from an Achilles injury (Twitter links). However, the defensive back won’t be ready for next week, and the team will consider moving safety Kareem Jackson to cornerback as they deal with the injuries.
In an interview with Rapoport, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck discussed a “previously secret injury” to his right shoulder that he suffered while snowboarding. The injury occurred after Luck had suffered a labrum tear in 2015, and the quarterback ended up hurting his AC joint in his throwing shoulder during the snowboarding accident. For what it’s worth, Luck is convinced that the indiscretion didn’t do anything to slow his eventual rehab from labrum surgery. “I’ve seen more doctors than I can count on two hands over the past two or three years,” Luck said, “and the consensus — unanimous — is that the AC is not an issue, nor did it have an effect. The labrum is an issue.”

South Rumors: Luck, Bucs, Saints, Texans

September 6th, 2018 at 12:54pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Colts have their franchise centerpiece ready to resume his career after a hiatus so long it had many concerned his NFL days were over. But not everyone’s buying into Andrew Luck being able to pick up where he left off.

“Have you watched the guy play? Go back and watch him pre-injury…like 2015. Now watch him today. His throwing motion is completely changed, and he has no deep velocity,” an AFC offensive assistant coach said, via Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller. “His entire game has changed. I bet he’ll be Checkdown Charlie. Like Alex Smith but afraid to get hit.”

An AFC South assistant, per Miller, doubted the Colts’ offensive line can protect Luck. That was an issue for the team when its 28-year-old quarterback was last healthy. Colts scouts and execs are obviously more bullish on Luck being ready to resume his trajectory.

“The last time y’all saw Andrew, he threw for 4,200 yards with a (messed) up shoulder and a bad offensive line,” a “high-level” Colts executive told Miller. “Just wait.”

Continuing with some additional Colts news, here’s the latest from the South divisions:

Both Anthony Castonzo and Marlon Mack returned to Colts practice this week, per ESPN.com’s Mike Wells and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (Twitter links). Castonzo injured his hamstring before training camp and re-aggravated it in the first week of August. He missed nearly a month of work but is optimistic he can still play in Week 1, the Indianapolis Star’s Zak Keefer tweets. Mack missed almost a month of work as well because of a hamstring issue. He’s Indianapolis’ projected running back starter, but his status for the opener is also up in the air.
Both the Buccaneers and Saints paid premiums to sign certain practice squad players. Tampa Bay went well above the minimum $7.6K-per-week wages to add linebacker Azeem Victor, agreeing to pay him $28K per week, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The Saints are paying wide receiver Keith Kirkwood that amount as well, per Pelissero. Kirkwood is a rookie UDFA out of Temple who went to Saints camp, while Victor was sixth-round Raiders pick in April.
While Luke Kuechly and Shaq Thompson are expected to handle three-down work for the Panthers, David Mayo will start in place of the suspended Thomas Davis, DC Eric Washington said (via Joe Person of The Athletic, on Twitter). Mayo’s a 2015 sixth-round pick who’s started one game in his three previous Panther seasons.
The Texans worked out both Charles Sims and Akeem Hunt on Thursday, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle notes (on Twitter). While Sims is a former regular on Buccaneers passing downs, Hunt’s workout went well, Wilson tweets, adding no deal is imminent. The Texans will be without D’Onta Foreman for the first third of the season. Alfred Blue, third-year back Tyler Ervin and recent waiver claim Gregory Howell are on Houston’s roster behind starter Lamar Miller.

AFC Notes: Colts, Luck, Ravens, Jackson, Jets, Webb

September 5th, 2018 at 9:48am CST by Andrew Ortenberg

During Andrew Luck’s extended time away from the game, both he and the Colts organization always publicly projected confidence that he would return to the field at 100 percent sooner rather than later. But privately, Luck doubted himself and feared he would never play football again he revealed in a recent interview with Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star.

It’s a great piece that is well worth a read, with plenty of previously untold insights into Luck’s time away from football, his recovery, and his mental state. The Colts signal caller is healthy for now, ready to lead his team against the Bengals in Week 1. It’s been a long road, but Luck is finally back. It’ll be a treat for all fans of the NFL to get to start seeing Luck on Sundays again.

Here’s more from around the AFC:

Lamar Jackson showed the potential to be a dynamic playmaker during the preseason, but he’s a long way from starting. Robert Griffin III will open the season as Joe Flacco’s backup, with Jackson starting the year as the number three according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Ravens coach John Harbaugh had previously said he planned on using Jackson and Flacco on the field together, so it’s unclear if the Ravens will keep three quarterbacks active on game days.
Speaking of the Colts, offensive linemen “Mark Glowinski and Denzelle Good both took paycuts over cutdown weekend” reports Tom Pelissero of NFL Netowrk (Twitter link). The moves created $1.7MM in cap space for the Colts, and the players can make up the money they lost through incentives Pelissero notes.
After Davis Webb was stunningly released by the Giants at final cuts, he signed with the Jets‘ practice squad. Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com detailed Webb’s reaction to his release, he was shocked and hurt, and the moments after. A number of teams made offers to Webb, and there’s a strong possibility Webb will be promoted to the Jets’ 53-man roster in the coming weeks if he does what’s asked of him a source told Dunleavy. It’s a good situation for both sides, and the Jets may have just found their long-term backup for Sam Darnold.

Irsay: Colts Unlikely To Trade Jacoby Brissett For First-Round Pick

August 4th, 2018 at 2:22pm CST by Sam Robinson

Andrew Luck has not experienced any setbacks in a long-awaited recovery thus far during Colts camp, but his 2017 absence allowed for a one-time third-string quarterback to see nearly a full season’s worth of starts.

And Jim Irsay doesn’t want to part with Jacoby Brissett, regardless of Luck’s status. The Colts rebuffed trade offers during the spring for their current backup quarterback, but it’s unclear what teams proposed. However, the outspoken owner said he has no plans to trade Brissett — even for a first-round pick.

“All of a sudden, we have the best backup quarterback in football,” Irsay said, via Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star. “I don’t think we’d accept a (first-round pick in a trade) for him, we think he’s that good.”

That would seem like a lofty asking price for a former third-round pick, but the Colts obviously have a strong reason to employ a quality backup. Despite being a preseason trade acquisition, Brissett started 15 games last season. While his 39.6 Total QBR ranked 27th last season, the former N.C. State passer did not have an offseason to acclimate to his new offense.

Brissett is under contract through the 2019 season and doesn’t have any $1MM-plus base salaries on his rookie deal. While it would be surprising if the Colts legitimately turned down a first-round pick in this case, teams have been protective in the recent past regarding backups — the Bengals with A.J. McCarron coming to mind. Though, the 49ers acquiring Jimmy Garoppolo — stationed in front of Brissett in 2016 — for a second-rounder may make Irsay’s first-round pledge moot.

Brad Kaaya and Temple-produced UDFA Phillip Walker are the other QBs on the Colts’ roster.

Irsay went on to express confidence in Luck’s health, indicating he has “no doubt” about his starter’s arm strength despite the immense layoff. Irsay admitted Luck’s inability to return to action last season surprised him, but now the Colts have a remarkably better signal-caller situation than they did a year ago at this time.

Andrew Luck “Good To Go” For Camp

July 20th, 2018 at 2:05pm CST by Zachary Links

Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is “good to go” for training camp, Colts GM Chris Ballard tells reporters (Twitter link via Stephen Holder of the Indy Star). That means Luck won’t have to begin next week on the PUP list, which is a very positive sign for his progress.

Luck will still take some days off, but there won’t be any limitations while he’s on the field. Before Ballard’s announcement today, no one was quite sure of Luck’s status for camp.

The QB missed all of 2017 with a shoulder issue and was finally able to throw a regulation-sized football in June. The Colts have been extremely cautious with Luck this offseason as the quarterback admitted that he attempted a 2017 return too quickly. Last season, the Colts were insistent that Luck would eventually return to the field, but they had to throw in the towel in November by placing him on IR.

Luck’s shoulder was largely a non-issue in 2016 as he threw for 4,240 yards and 31 touchdowns with a career-high 63.5 completion percentage. After months of surgeries, procedures, and grueling rehab, the Colts are hoping that Luck will be able to reprise that performance in 2018.

When healthy, Luck is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. The Stanford product posted more than 70 combined touchdowns in 2014 and 2016, and the 28-year-old (29 in September) is a three-time Pro Bowler.

This Date In Transactions History: Andrew Luck

June 29th, 2018 at 10:13am CST by Zachary Links

On this date two years ago, the Colts made Andrew Luck the highest-paid player in NFL history. Two years later, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the deal will pay off.

[RELATED: Latest On Andrew Luck]

The Colts inked Luck to a five-year extension worth a whopping $122MM, with $87MM in overall guarantees and $47MM fully guaranteed at signing. Without the deal, Luck would have been eligible for free agency following the ’16 season. From there, the Colts could have retained Luck for an additional two seasons via the franchise tag at estimated values of $25MM and $35MM, but it would have put them in a difficult position down the road. Instead, both sides used Luck’s expected franchise tags amounts as a framework for talks and hammered out a deal.

With the contract, Luck leapfrogged Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, and Philip Rivers in average annual value. The deal made sense, but it did not come without risk. Luck was coming off of an injury-riddled, seven-game season in which he completed just 55.3% of his passes and logged 15 touchdowns against 12 interceptions.

Luck’s shoulder was largely a non-issue in 2016 as he threw for 4,240 yards and 31 touchdowns with a career-high 63.5 completion percentage. After the season, he went under the knife to fix his shoulder, and that’s where things started to get messy. First, Luck was held out of training camp and the preseason. Then, he was ruled out for week after week in the regular season. Finally, in November, the Colts were forced to place Luck on season-ending IR.

Luck finally was able to throw a regulation-sized football earlier this month, but questions remain about how effective Luck can be going forward. When healthy, Luck is one of the league’s best QBs and he has three Pro Bowl nods to back that up. Still, no one knows if his shoulder can withstand the punishment of a full season. The Colts will be married to the former No. 1 overall pick for a while, regardless of how things turn out.

Already, Luck’s $12MM base salary for 2018 and $6MM of his 2019 salary have become fully guaranteed. If the Colts want to push the eject button in 2019, it’ll leave them with $12.8MM in dead money versus $14.725MM in cap savings. Their first chance to move on from Luck with an impactful effect on the cap will come in 2020, when they can save $22MM by cutting him with just $6.5MM in dead money remaining.

The Colts and Luck are hoping that it won’t come to that. If Luck gets back to his old form this year, the mega deal he signed in 2016 will once again look worthwhile, and maybe even team-friendly.

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