If Luck is hurt, Colts should sit him; if he’s not, that’s even worse
If Andrew Luck is playing with a significant injury, it might be time for the Indianapolis Colts to consider sitting down their fourth-year franchise quarterback for his own good and preservation.
If he’s not, that is a more difficult and potentially troubling circumstance because then the question becomes: Why does he seem to be regressing?
A rainy Monday night in Charlotte and a crazy, highly compelling game against the Carolina Panthers yielded little clarity on the Luck issue. He played about as poorly as he possibly could play as the Colts fell behind, 23-6, early in the fourth quarter. Then Luck suddenly got a hot hand and engineered a stunning comeback that gave the Colts a chance to win at the end of regulation before they sent the game into overtime and took the lead.
But when the final plot twist finally had been exhausted, Luck’s third interception of the night allowed the Panthers to kick their second field goal of the overtime session and remain unbeaten by escaping with a 29-26 triumph.
“It’s hard to find perspective right now,” Luck said at his postgame news conference. “We lost. That’s what matters. We did some decent things to give ourselves a chance but messed it up at the end by throwing that interception.”
The Colts, after reaching last season’s AFC title game and entering this season with seemingly realistic Super Bowl hopes, have a record of 3-5. Never mind that that’s good enough to give them a share of first place with the Houston Texans in the laughably pitiable AFC South. The Colts, at this point, are not realistic contenders in a conference that includes three undefeated teams in New England, Denver and Cincinnati. They are failing miserably and Coach Chuck Pagano is not the only one who deserves blame.
Sure, the comically awful fake punt against the Patriots made Pagano look bad and made his ouster seem inevitable. But it was General Manager Ryan Grigson who assembled the offensive lines that usually have failed to safeguard Luck throughout his career, as Pagano pointed out following one game this season. It was Grigson who went shopping for veterans in the offseason by signing tailback Frank Gore, wide receiver Andre Johnson, guard Todd Herremans and pass rusher Trent Cole, moves that have failed to make the Colts a Super Bowl-worthy team.
And what about Luck? He is supposed to be the NFL’s next big thing, the leader of the next generation of quarterbacks who will take up where Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers leave off. For three seasons, Luck has looked every bit the part. But now, six starts into his fourth season, Luck has 13 touchdown passes, a dozen interceptions, an ugly passer rating of 71.6 and the look of a young quarterback struggling to find his way.
He missed two games with what was called a shoulder injury. Fox reported over the weekend that Luck had suffered broken ribs. That never was listed on the Colts’ official injury reports, and Grigson said in a written statement that the team’s injury reports have been accurate. Luck sidestepped the question when asked by a reporter late Monday night whether he’d suffered broken ribs, saying: “I’m not gonna get into that right now.”
For three quarters Monday, Luck resembled a quarterback playing hurt. Jon Gruden said on the ESPN telecast it appeared to him that Luck was dealing with an injury. In the Colts’ first 12 possessions of the game, Luck completed only 5 of 16 passes for 40 yards. He threw two interceptions.
He turned things around in the fourth quarter, though, throwing touchdown passes to Johnson and tight end Coby Fleener. A snooze-fest of a game became a thriller. The Colts, trailing by three points, drove down the field at the end of regulation, aided by a fourth-down completion from Luck to Griff Whalen on a pass that may or may not have hit the turf. A replay review did not reverse the catch, and the Colts saved time later on the drive when an official erroneously called Whalen out of bounds following a catch. He actually had been tackled in bounds.
But that merely provided time for Luck’s throw into the end zone in the final seconds nearly to be intercepted by Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly. The Colts settled for kicker Adam Vinatieri’s tying field goal as time expired. Vinatieri connected again early in overtime, this time from 50 yards, to give the Colts the lead. But Carolina kicker Graham Gano, who’d missed an extra point in regulation, tied the game with a 42-yard field goal, then won it with a 52-yarder following Kuechly’s interception of a deflected Luck pass.
“It’s my problem and it’s hurting the team,” Luck said of his interceptions. “And I’ve got to fix it or else it’s tough to win. I know that. So I’m disappointed in myself.”
The Colts are 1-5 this season in games started by Luck. They won the two games started by his veteran backup, Matt Hasselbeck.
No one is saying that Luck should be benched. He is the future of the franchise. He is, quite possibly, the future of the league.
But the Colts have not been forthcoming about the nature or severity of his injury or injuries. There undoubtedly are competitive reasons for that. If Luck indeed had broken ribs, the Colts did not want to put a target on him for opposing defensive players. Luck probably does not want to be viewed as making excuses for the way he’s played.
It’s time for an honest conversation within their organization, however. Luck isn’t playing well. If it’s because he’s hurt, it might be time to protect him from himself.
If he is physically well enough to play and play well, all the Colts can do is cross their fingers and hope that his downward spiral ends and he returns to being the player he appeared for three seasons to be.