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The Colts Need Their Lucky Charm

There’s no question that Andrew Luck is one of the NFL’s premier quarterbacks.

There’s plenty of questions about his health and his availability, and that’s bad news for the Indianapolis Colts.

NFL teams need not be overly forthcoming about injuries during the preseason, so what we know about the damaged Mr. Luck is that he has a calf strain and a bone issue in his lower left leg. You likely will not see him at all in preseason games though the club says he’ll be ready for the regular-season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers.

When a talent such as Luck is present, the Colts can be a powerhouse. He threw 39 touchdown passes last season in a 10-6 campaign and 40 in 2015 when the Colts were 11-5. In the interim? A problem in his throwing shoulder that developed in 2016 led to surgery and a missed 2017 season saw the Colts go 4-12 under the sudden and not-quite-ready Jacoby Brissett.

“When I first came in the door, one of the things we talked about was building a team and it wasn’t going to be just about one guy,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard said Tuesday night. “Look, I understand the importance of Andrew Luck. Are you kidding me? This guy’s one of the top five quarterbacks in the league. But we also got another quarterback we like in Jacoby Brissett.”

That’s fine. Like Jacoby Brissett all you want. To get anywhere in this league, a premier quarterback is the first requirement. And that QB is Luck. He helped the team to the AFC title game following the 2014 season and back into the playoffs last season after three dry years.

Ballard says it is not about one guy. We wish him Luck.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman