Daily dose of optimism for Andrew Luck's return

[jameszeigler834]

1 hour ago, Hoose said:

Still makes me nervous. No throwing until July. Wow.

He is throwing just not the NFL football yet and I said from the beginning he don't need to do that until training camp.

[Fisticuffs111]

2 hours ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

 

"The plan is for Luck to be throwing on a full-time basis by April or May, and that will be a critical point in the recovery."

 

That's a small excerpt from this story... https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2018/02/28/chris-ballard-no-doubt-andrew-luck-ready-go/377383002/

 

I haven't listened to the Ballard interview from this morning yet though, does anyone have a link?

Those are kind of old comments though, from late February. Everything said since then has been kind of vague, IMO kinda trying to temper down expectations from those "throwing by April/May" comments.

Here's what Ballard just said:
 

 

[TdungyW/12]

3 hours ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

**Me to every other fanbase**

Oh, your QB doesn't look like he's gonna rip someone's head off this coming season? Can't relate.

 

I can’t wait to see what Luck can do with an fast tempo offense with shorter passing schemes and a line that can actually keep him off his back. 

 

You thought 1-3 seasons were good ..... I predict he comes back and surpasses that. 

[ColtStrong2013]

Look at the brightside... if his shoulder is actually shot, we can always turn him into a much needed Mike linebacker. Problem solved. 

[King Colt]

3 hours ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

 

No way. Super Bowl contender or not, he can't just sit out for another entire season. Being away from full-blown NFL football for that amount of time would be really difficult to overcome, plus, that's another year of his prime down the tubes. He needs to play, plain and simple.

Well I reckon that is up to #1 the doctors and #2 Luck. I'd rather see him lighting up the scoreboard next year than him sitting on the sidelines holding his shoulder this year.

[dgambill]

3 hours ago, DaveA1102 said:

Brissett under center this year and Luck as our Power Back?  

Well if he can't throw again we can start him at LB.

[loudnproudcolt]

4 hours ago, dgambill said:

Andrew will have been out of game action for like 18-20 months....one thing for certain he is going to have so rust to work off. I remember when Peyton missed all the pre-season and workouts etc when he had the infection cut out of his knee....it was like Week 8 or 9 before old Peyton came back....I think its safe to assume Luck will experience that as well. His play will get better...its his health that I think we all will be holding our breath for.

 

I was thinking the same thought about knocking off the rust, and how long he has been out. I also thought back to Peyton with that infected bursa sac in his knee, and those first 5 games were ugly. Now Andrew is younger than Peyton was then, and he is in great shape, but it will take at least a 1/4 of the season just to get reacclimated to the game. My guess is Reich knows this already, and the game plan will be designed around more short passes, getting it out quick, so he can get a groove going, and that muscle and game memory reassert themselves. Game Plan will be crucial, but if he does not play well, it is something I expect. If he does play well, it is gravy since just having back healthy is what I care about. I am hoping with Nelson, Kelly, and Smith (if he starts) will be able to open some holes and our running game will also help him. Nothing makes a QB better than a good line and running game. Andrew has had none of these things his first six years.

 

One more thing I think is a big positive which I think is overlooked is the amount of information he processed over the last year being on the sidelines, and just being able to watch. The way his mind works, I think it will be more like having a coach out there, which will allow Reich to start giving more rein for Luck to call his own plays and switch out of bad plays. It may take a bit, but I forsee positive things going forward.

[shasta519]

1 hour ago, TdungyW/12 said:

I can’t wait to see what Luck can do with an fast tempo offense with shorter passing schemes and a line that can actually keep him off his back. 

 

You thought 1-3 seasons were good ..... I predict he comes back and surpasses that. 

 

If the passing game is short enough...maybe he can use his left arm.

[Steamboat_Shaun]

5 minutes ago, loudnproudcolt said:

 

I was thinking the same thought about knocking off the rust, and how long he has been out. I also thought back to Peyton with that infected bursa sac in his knee, and those first 5 games were ugly. Now Andrew is younger than Peyton was then, and he is in great shape, but it will take at least a 1/4 of the season just to get reacclimated to the game. My guess is Reich knows this already, and the game plan will be designed around more short passes, getting it out quick, so he can get a groove going, and that muscle and game memory reassert themselves. Game Plan will be crucial, but if he does not play well, it is something I expect. If he does play well, it is gravy since just having back healthy is what I care about. I am hoping with Nelson, Kelly, and Smith (if he starts) will be able to open some holes and our running game will also help him. Nothing makes a QB better than a good line and running game. Andrew has had none of these things his first six years.

 

One more thing I think is a big positive which I think is overlooked is the amount of information he processed over the last year being on the sidelines, and just being able to watch. The way his mind works, I think it will be more like having a coach out there, which will allow Reich to start giving more rein for Luck to call his own plays and switch out of bad plays. It may take a bit, but I forsee positive things going forward.

 

The first 5-6 games will be run heavy for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if it's week 8 before we even see a pass longer than 20 yards. And it's not just a health thing, Luck's learning a new scheme just like everyone else, and developing the chemistry with WRs & TEs & mastering the new offensive playbook will take time.

[bleevit]

4 hours ago, DaveA1102 said:

Brissett under center this year and Luck as our Power Back?  

Lol. How 'bout a 2 QB set for screens and such. 

[bleevit]

I do believe that if healthy Andrew will require league minimums learning the playbook. I bet he was the first to get it. He does look as though he is back to that linebacker mindset. This time, however, he knows he can be hurt and will not look to run much. Good luck stopping him entirely, because when he sees it, he's going to take it. As we used to say in the military as a show of respect: "You want to fight him?"

[deedub75]

4 hours ago, DaColts85 said:

In TC is when he is "targeted" to start throwing a regular regimen? That is not terrible.

 

Ballard didn’t really say regular regiment. He said the target date to start throwing was training camp. If he hasn’t thrown any by then I suspect his throwing regiment would be similar to what he did when he started throwing during last season - a scripted set and number of throughs with a couple of days with test and rehab in between. He would ramp up from there hoping that there’s no soreness like last time. 

[chad72]

14 minutes ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

 

The first 5-6 games will be run heavy for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if it's week 8 before we even see a pass longer than 20 yards. And it's not just a health thing, Luck's learning a new scheme just like everyone else, and developing the chemistry with WRs & TEs & mastering the new offensive playbook will take time.

 

We may have no other choice but to air it out to score points or play from behind because our D is learning a new scheme too and could make enough mistakes and not start as fast as a veteran D that has been in the same system for a few years. 

[deedub75]

13 minutes ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

 

The first 5-6 games will be run heavy for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if it's week 8 before we even see a pass longer than 20 yards. And it's not just a health thing, Luck's learning a new scheme just like everyone else, and developing the chemistry with WRs & TEs & mastering the new offensive playbook will take time.

 

Are you saying that they would not call a pass play longer than 20 yards? I don’t think you can trust any QB to not go off script during live game action. 

[shasta519]

2 minutes ago, deedub75 said:

 

Ballard didn’t really say regular regiment. He said the target date to start throwing was training camp. If he hasn’t thrown any by then I suspect his throwing regiment would be similar to what he did when he started throwing during last season - a scripted set and number of throughs with a couple of days with test and rehab in between. He would ramp up from there hoping that there’s no soreness like last time. 

 

Query and Schultz said they heard speculation that Luck would start playing around the beginning of October, which would imply a somewhat lengthy throwing regimen (at least 8 weeks)...if he was in fact able to start throwing at the beginning of TC...which I think is right in line with what ColtsBlueFL and Dr. Chao have said.

 

Who knows what to think. I can appreciate optimism on this...but I can't get past my own objectivity. It's just such a strange situation...and I don't remember anything like this. And there is just no information coming out of Colts camp, which is fine, but doesn't help the situation. 

 

If he actually will start throwing at the beginning of TC, this lengthy ordeal has had me wondering if he in fact had some type of procedure when he traveled overseas...and we are just witnessing the rehab and rest from that. To us, it seems like he has been rehabbing for 17 months and can't throw, but he might just actually be going through a normal timeline for another procedure. Of course they would never tell us this.

7 minutes ago, deedub75 said:

 

Are you saying that they would not call a pass play longer than 20 yards? I don’t think you can trust any QB to not go off script during live game action. 

 

What if all of the pass catchers refuse to run further than 20 yards downfield. 

[TdungyW/12]

32 minutes ago, shastamasta said:

 

If the passing game is short enough...maybe he can use his left arm.

80 yard drive through Shovel pass

[Steamboat_Shaun]

11 minutes ago, chad72 said:

 

We may have no other choice but to air it out to score points or play from behind because our D is learning a new scheme too and could make enough mistakes and not start as fast as a veteran D that has been in the same system for a few years. 

 

I'm not so sure... looking at Ballard's 2 drafts, pretty much all of the players on D have been handpicked to run this 4-3 scheme. The entire unit has been completely overturned, simplified, youth added, with a lot more speed, so I don't feel like the learning curve will be nearly as drastic for those guys. The biggest adjustment for most of the defense will be just getting used to the game speed of the NFL.

 

On the other hand, the new offensive scheme is probably a little more complex & intricate than Chudzinski's playbook, and those guys are all from different backgrounds & schemes. So in terms of getting acclimated to their respective new assignments, I would expect the defense to be ahead of the offense.

[The Peytonator]

Who cares if he can’t throw a football, the dude looks like he could throw the guy throwing the football. Maybe he just needs to adjust to his body from his ‘treatment’ in ‘Europe’. He just doesn’t know his own strength yet and him not throwing is more for our receivers benefit than anything. 

[Steamboat_Shaun]

13 minutes ago, The Peytonator said:

Who cares if he can’t throw a football, the dude looks like he could throw the guy throwing the football. Maybe he just needs to adjust to his body from his ‘treatment’ in ‘Europe’. He just doesn’t know his own strength yet and him not throwing is more for our receivers benefit than anything. 

 

You bring up a really good point. We'd just be putting our WRs in harm's way right now if we turned Luck loose, because, like the old saying goes, you can't catch what you can't see.

[Stephen]

5 hours ago, rockywoj said:

That's my prediction, that he wins NFL Comeback Player of the Year for 2018.

Between him and wentz

[Steamboat_Shaun]

2 hours ago, deedub75 said:

 

Are you saying that they would not call a pass play longer than 20 yards? I don’t think you can trust any QB to not go off script during live game action. 

 

I was exaggerating a bit, but I do believe that they're going to protect Luck as much as they can, and minimize the amount of plays they call where he throws downfield until they know that he is there 100%, both mentally and physically. And I suspect that's gonna take a few weeks.

 

Or, they could come out with a play action and chuck one 40 yards to TY down the seam for the first play of the season. No way to know, but I expect some conservative playcalling, at least initially.

1 hour ago, Stephen said:

Between him and wentz

 

David Johnson will be a likely candidate as well.

[dgambill]

1 hour ago, Steamboat_Shaun said:

 

I was exaggerating a bit, but I do believe that they're going to protect Luck as much as they can, and minimize the amount of plays they call where he throws downfield until they know that he is there 100%, both mentally and physically. And I suspect that's gonna take a few weeks.

 

Or, they could come out with a play action and chuck one 40 yards to TY down the seam for the first play of the season. No way to know, but I expect some conservative playcalling, at least initially.

 

David Johnson will be a likely candidate as well.

Edelman...Berry...lots of possibilities...but I think none that would mean as much to the W/L totals like Luck.

[masnerj]

I am not a doctor or a physical therapy professional but I think many people, especially those in the national media, are getting Luck's rehab completely wrong. As someone that has some background knowledge in rehab, etc: 

 

I don't think his not throwing is a matter of him NOT being able to throw but its a matter of no reason for him to throw UNTIL his shoulder is perfectly rehabbed, strengthened, etc. Andrew Luck could probably throw the ball 70 yards right now but I wonder if the idea is more about him getting his mechanics back, getting his strength 100% (and more!!!), and being able to be set up for long-time success as a thrower. 

 

Man hasn't thrown a football in over a year and remember this fact that was on some article: Andrew Luck after his initial shoulder injury/tweak etc several years ago had actually changed the way he threw the ball to COMPENSATE for the injury and the problems he was having. That kinda stuff doesn't just naturally go away, especially as you are trying to come back from an injury and you are mentally and physically delayed. 

 

 

[Boiler_Colt]

7 minutes ago, masnerj said:

 

Man hasn't thrown a football in over a year

 

 

 

That part isnt true and a lot of reporters are getting this wrong too. He hasnt thrown a ball since October 2017 when he was shut down. He was throwing footballs in September and October of last year.

[chrisfarley]

11 hours ago, DaColts85 said:

I wonder if he is still throwing the smaller footballs or where he stands on easing into throwing regularly.

he's eating smaller footballs now.  i think he's throwing a real football in his football field sized basement at home.  No reporters, no Gregg Doyel, no harassment there.  Oh, and no Jim Irsay.

[2006Coltsbestever]

He and Reggie Wayne are probably playing pitch and catch at LOS at 3 in the morning when nobody is around to see/report anything LOL. He probably is throwing 50 yard strikes to Reggie and both are laughing at people that think he is done. If anyone actually thinks he hasn't thrown a Football a few times you are really naïve. JMO.

[2006Coltsbestever]

I look at like this, a lot of people think Ballard and Irsay are liars anyway so what makes everyone think they aren't lying or keeping it secret that Andrew is actually throwing a little? Maybe they are and want to see how it goes before they go public with it.

[Yoshinator]

14 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

I look at like this, a lot of people think Ballard and Irsay are liars anyway so what makes everyone think they aren't lying or keeping it secret that Andrew is actually throwing a little? Maybe they are and want to see how it goes before they go public with it.

I do believe Irsay lied. Not because he's an evil person or anything, but because he's a businessman running a franchise, and he did what was best for his bottom line. I honestly would of probably done the same thing if I were him, even though I was mad at him for it, as hypocritical as that sounds. 

 

I believe Luck will play this year though. Not because of anything Irsay said, but because Ballard didn't draft a QB and traded down from 3 to 6. Even though we have Brissett, if Luck wasn't playing again and was truly done, we would take our franchise QB with a top 3 pick that we may never get again. Irsay would never stoop that low to pass on a new franchise QB to trick the fans if Luck was finished to sell tickets.

[2006Coltsbestever]

17 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

I do believe Irsay lied. Not because he's an evil person or anything, but because he's a businessman running a franchise, and he did what was best for his bottom line. I honestly would of probably done the same thing if I were him, even though I was mad at him for it, as hypocritical as that sounds. 

 

I believe Luck will play this year though. Not because of anything Irsay said, but because Ballard didn't draft a QB and traded down from 3 to 6. Even though we have Brissett, if Luck wasn't playing again and was truly done, we would take our franchise QB with a top 3 pick that we may never get again. Irsay would never stoop that low to pass on a new franchise QB to trick the fans if Luck was finished to sell tickets.

By saying Irsay lied then you must believe he knew all along Luck wasn't going to play at all in 2017. Didn't Luck himself even say he was going to play? Maybe Irsay was going with the optimism by what he was hearing from the Doctors and Luck and thought he would come back? I don't really know but it seems like, that is what Irsay was going by to me. Unless Doctors specifically told Irsay that Luck was out for the year which we don't know, than we have no idea if he was lying. It's all a guess. I do agree that Luck will start the 2018 season otherwise we would've never traded down from 3 to 6. Looking at Luck's appearance, he looks in great shape as well. You don't pass on Sam Darnold if you think Luck is done.

[Yoshinator]

4 minutes ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

By saying Irsay lied then you must believe he knew all along Luck wasn't going to play at all in 2017. Didn't Luck himself even say he was going to play? Maybe Irsay was going with the optimism by what he was hearing from the Doctors and Luck and thought he would come back? I don't really know but it seems like, that is what Irsay was going by to me. Unless Doctors specifically told Irsay that Luck was out for the year which we don't know, than we have no idea if he was lying. It's all a guess. I do agree that Luck will start the 2018 season otherwise we would've never traded down from 3 to 6. Looking at Luck's appearance, he looks in great shape as well. You don't pass on Sam Darnold if you think Luck is done.

Yes, I do believe Irsay knew Luck wasn't going to play in 2017. I'm looking at it from a business perspective where Irsay is treating this like a business to make money, you are looking at it from a fan perspective where Irsay is the great owner that would never lie to loyal Colt fans. Love you as a poster, but I'm probably right here. I believe Luck said he was coming back because he's an optimist and was hopeful he could play for the fans and his team, Irsay said it to sell tickets and make money. Two complete different thought processes from Luck and Irsay.

[2006Coltsbestever]

12 minutes ago, Jared Cisneros said:

Yes, I do believe Irsay knew Luck wasn't going to play in 2017. I'm looking at it from a business perspective where Irsay is treating this like a business to make money, you are looking at it from a fan perspective where Irsay is the great owner that would never lie to loyal Colt fans. Love you as a poster, but I'm probably right here. I believe Luck said he was coming back because he's an optimist and was hopeful he could play for the fans and his team, Irsay said it to sell tickets and make money. Two complete different thought processes from Luck and Irsay.

You may be right but I think we would've sold out every game anyway last season. So if Irsay lied for the business part of it to sell tickets, I don't think he needed too (I would think he would know that if I know it). We haven't lost enough yet in successive years IMO for fans not to come to games because Luck is out. If we keep losing over the next 2 or 3 years I can see it then, but we have had such tremendous success over the last 20 years, most of our season ticket holders and fans are still pretty loyal.

[Yoshinator]

1 minute ago, 2006Coltsbestever said:

You may be right but I think we would've sold out every game anyway last season. So if Irsay lied for the business part of it to sell tickets, I don't think he needed too. We haven't lost enough yet in successive years IMO for fans not to come to games because Luck is out. If we keep losing over the next 2 or 3 years I can see it then, but we have had such tremendous success over the last 20 years, most of our season ticket holders and fans are still pretty loyal.

The hardcores like us are definitely loyal, some of the casuals are not. They hear that Luck is missing the entire season before tickets go on sale, and they fade buying them for that year. It also causes less Colts fans to come to games and more fans from traveling away teams, making it less of a home game for the Colts. I can't remember the exact time that we traded for Brissett, but if Irsay thought Luck may play last year, I don't think he would of traded for Brissett. I think he knew he was out, and he wanted Ballard to get a somewhat established QB to hold us over for a year until Luck returned. 

 

He'll play this year, and we got the better end of the deal with Brissett and a nice backup QB. Just remember, Irsay is a businessman first and foremost, it's all about the bottom line. He probably loves the fans, but he puts the business first even if there's some shadiness behind it. It's like that with any business owner. Just have to roll with the punches as a fan.

[2006Coltsbestever]

1 minute ago, Jared Cisneros said:

The hardcores like us are definitely loyal, some of the casuals are not. They hear that Luck is missing the entire season before tickets go on sale, and they fade buying them for that year. It also causes less Colts fans to come to games and more fans from traveling away teams, making it less of a home game for the Colts. I can't remember the exact time that we traded for Brissett, but if Irsay thought Luck may play last year, I don't think he would of traded for Brissett. I think he knew he was out, and he wanted Ballard to get a somewhat established QB to hold us over for a year until Luck returned. 

 

He'll play this year, and we got the better end of the deal with Brissett and a nice backup QB. Just remember, Irsay is a businessman first and foremost, it's all about the bottom line. He probably loves the fans, but he puts the business first even if there's some shadiness behind it. It's like that with any business owner. Just have to roll with the punches as a fan.

Yeah unfortunately Football and all sports is a business, I am not naïve to that but I just don't like calling anyone a liar without proof. Not saying you are wrong, a lot of people believe what you are saying.

[ricker182]

The Colts pretty much insinuated he'd be ready to play LAST SEASON.  

They said he'd be ready by training camp last season too.  

  

Irsay said Luck would participate in all the off-season stuff this year and he'd be ready for the season.  

  

Irsay never said he'd be throwing at camp or actually be playing this year.  

  

Very sneaky wording.  

  

I'll just continue to believe Luck is done forever until he's actually in a real game throwing the football.  

  

I'm tired of being lied to by the Colts.

 

[rockywoj]

5 hours ago, Stephen said:

Between him and wentz

If they both come back elite, award goes to Luck. Wentz was elite for a good part of this past season, so it would be a nice return from injury, but just a continuation of what he did last year.  Luck had injury plagued 2015 & 2016 seasons and missed all of last year.  The “comeback” part of it doesn’t even compare in any way, if they both come back elite. Luck wins it, hands down!

[2006Coltsbestever]

2 minutes ago, ricker182 said:

The Colts pretty much insinuated he'd be ready to play LAST SEASON.  

They said he'd be ready by training camp last season too.  

  

Irsay said Luck would participate in all the off-season stuff this year and he'd be ready for the season.  

  

Irsay never said he'd be throwing at camp or actually be playing this year.  

  

Very sneaky wording.  

  

I'll just continue to believe Luck is done forever until he's actually in a real game throwing the football.  

  

I'm tired of being lied to by the Colts.

 

We are sneaky liars like that

[Valpo2004]

I really so bad want to see a video of Luck throwing a football...  And not hear that he has shoulder swelling a week later.  

[shakedownstreet]

He's lookin' good following his recent surgery!

 

[bleevit]

This week's interview with coach Reich Is interesting in that he is talking about letting Andrew help fine tune the plays and check downs which would indicate to me that our big strong quarterback will be under center sometime soon. When? I'll get you the exact date in about 2 weeks. GO COLTS!

[NewEra]

On 5/10/2018 at 2:53 PM, ColtStrong2013 said:

Look at the brightside... if his shoulder is actually shot, we can always turn him into a much needed Mike linebacker. Problem solved. 

Dude can hit. All jokes aside the dude is that gifted I bet he could start at other positions