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INDIANAPOLIS – Apparently, the calf injury for Andrew Luck is no longer just a muscle issue.
On Monday, appearing on SIRIUS NFL Radio, Jim Irsay offered this update on Luck’s lingering injury, pointing out that the ailment now surrounds a “small bone issue”:
“I know everyone has had their questions about Andrew,” Irsay first began in an interview with hosts Jeff Rickard and Bill Polian. “But I really feel very confident that he’s going to find his way through this thing. I think after the (Kevin) Durant thing everyone is erroring on the side of caution. But, quite frankly, this is not even in the Achilles tendon. It’s in another area. It’s a bone. I’m not good at these things, but it’s a small little bone. (Former Colts) Ryan Diem had it and Raheem Brock, I think had it, the trainers told me.
“But (Luck’s) doing very well. Very excited. He’s a married man, baby on the way. And he couldn’t be more excited for the season. We wish there wasn’t any little tweaks at all, but as you know, these things come up and you’ve got to deal with them.”
And Luck and the Colts have had to deal with this issue for nearly 4 months now.
Luck is the only Colts player yet to participate in a full team practice in 2019. After taking part in 3 limited sessions earlier in Training Camp, Luck has been sidelined for more than two weeks.
Following Monday’s practice, Frank Reich said it was unlikely Luck would take part in the team’s final two practices at Grand Park, coming Wednesday and Thursday.
Irsay’s update from Monday is a different story than what we’ve heard from Luck and the Colts this offseason.
Back in June, during the Colts mini-camps, Luck and Reich shared this information on the quarterback’s physical status.
“I mean within the calf-strain injury, I would say it’s on the longer side,” Reich said of Luck then missing the entire spring offseason program of OTAs and minicamp. “I don’t think it’s out of the range of a calf strain, but it is definitely on the longer side.”
“Just a calf-strain,” Luck said in June of his injury status. ”I aggravated it training and things can be stubborn sometimes. I certainly don’t feel as young as I once did and I am certainly also being conservative with things. It’s one of the lessons I learned going through my shoulder. I try to get the most out of myself every day. You still get better in a sense. I think this building, the ethos is to get better every day. The circumstances are that I have a calf-strain and can’t be out there practicing, but find other ways to get better. So that’s always the goal.”
Luck last met with the media two weeks ago, when the team announced that the quarterback had a setback from his ‘calf’ injury.
That is when some chatter grew about this injury also impacting the lower left leg/ankle of Luck.
“The nature of it is a calf-strain,” Luck said of the muscle, not bone problem, on July 30. “I say lower leg because I feel pain in my ankle area and calf-strain. I guess I’ll get a little specific – I’ve had images, X-rays and everything. My Achilles is not at extra risk. There is no tear or swelling or anything that’s indicated. So, it’s a calf-strain and we’re on our feet a lot.”
Several times this summer, the Colts have reiterated that the Achilles of Luck is not something of worry, with multiple MRIs on him occurring over the past few months.
But the saga continues with Luck as fans begin to think they are going down a similar road we saw in 2017.
Reich’s next media availability is Wednesday, following the first joint practice with the Browns.
Luck, who evidently continues to have pain in that lower leg area as he tries to return to practice, is not expected to practice again until Monday, at the very earliest.
No matter when Luck does return, he will enter a regular season, in which he is expected to play, without anywhere near the amount of practice time that he
typically has during the offseason.
With the time seriously ticking on Luck getting any sort of adequate practice time before Week 1, it’s looking more and more likely that the QB will have to play through some sort of pain/limited self if he’s going to be under center for the regular season opener.
