Colts won’t rush recovering Luck back from injury
INDIANAPOLIS >> The Indianapolis Colts intend to stick to the long-term plan.
Even if it means going into the regular season without Andrew Luck.
While they believe their biggest investment will be completely healthy eventually and that Luck provides their best chance to win now and into the future, they’re not going to rush the former Stanford star back.
And they’re not looking for a quick fix after a demoralizing 24-10 preseason loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
“I can’t say unequivocally that he (Luck) will be ready for the Rams game,” team owner Jim Irsay said. “But I can say I feel very confident that he will be ready to start the season.”
Luck is on the Colts’ physically unable to perform list as he continues to recover from offseason surgery to repair a partially torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.
The Colts have repeatedly said they’re optimistic Luck could open the regular season Sept. 10 at the Los Angeles Rams. That part hasn’t changed.
But team officials have been mostly restrained about providing specific timetables or updates about exactly what Luck is doing in rehab.
On July 24, new general manager Chris Ballard said Luck started throwing the previous week. Six days later, Luck told reporters only that he had started the throwing process with a tennis ball.
That was the last big update until Sunday.
First, Ballard told the local TV broadcast that Luck’s strength levels are measuring slightly better than “at any point last year” when Luck was playing through the injury.
Irsay offered another perspective.
“He isn’t throwing a football as strong as he wants to because we won’t let him,” Irsay said. “But we are very disciplined. We know this is a 12-year process, a future that’s 10, 12, hopefully 14 years. But we will not deviate from being disciplined in our process on how the doctors feel, on how Andrew feels.”
Indy’s abysmal preseason opener showed just how much it needs Luck on the field.
The three other quarterbacks Scott Tolzien, Phillip Walker and Stephen Morris were a combined 24 of 45 for 178 yards and were sacked five times. The Colts finished with 230 total yards, 90 of which came on the game’s final series, and just 14 first downs.
Irsay acknowledged the team pursued and nearly agreed to terms with an unnamed veteran quarterback earlier this summer.
“We came semi-close to bringing in a quarterback in his mid-30s,” Irsay said. “We had a number (of dollars) but he wanted more than we were willing to give. It wasn’t (Colin) Kaepernick.”
Luck was seen at three of Indy’s past six practices and was on the field again Sunday, too.
But he still must show the team doctors he’s healthy enough to participate before he can even contemplate playing in a game.
“He said, `Jim, I know I’m going to be even a better quarterback than I’ve ever been before. I just don’t know when,’” Irsay said. “That could be Sept. 10, that could be September 20. We’ll see.”
Lee latest Jaguars casualty
Jaguars receiver Marqise Lee was carted off the field Sunday with a right leg injury, a potentially significant setback for a team already without rookie running back Leonard Fournette.
Lee fell to the ground during 7-on-7 drills and immediately grabbed his leg. Linebacker Telvin Smith called for trainers.
Lee’s lower leg was immobilized before he was taken off the field on a cart.
Coach Doug Marrone had no update after practice, saying “we’re really not going to get anything until the doctor sees him.”
The injury happened during Jacksonville’s first practice in its new indoor facility. It also came hours after the team shut down Fournette.
The fourth overall pick in the NFL draft has a foot injury that Marrone is calling a “nagging issue.”
“We’re just being real cautious with it,” Marrone said.
Fournette sat out practice Sunday and is unlikely to work against Tampa Bay in joint practices Monday and Tuesday.
“I think it’s been something that has been kind of growing,” Marrone said. “I think it’s just one of those nagging things. It was a nagging issue.
“And then the other day it was just sore, so we were like, `Let’s not take any chances. Let’s take cautionary measure so it doesn’t turn out to be something that could be worse.”’
Fournette ran nine times for 31 yards and a touchdown at New England on Thursday. The former LSU star is being counted on to revamp Jacksonville’s rushing attack and take some pressure off quarterback Blake Bortles, who averaged 39 passes a game in 2016.
Lee, a fourth-year pro from USC, has 115 receptions for 1,464 yards and five touchdowns. He’s the expected starter opposite Allen Robinson.
Bills’ Matthews hurt
Jordan Matthews’ first chance to fill Sammy Watkins’ starting job with the Buffalo Bills ended with the newly acquired receiver sustaining a chest injury.
Matthews finished the two-hour practice on Sunday before being escorted off the field by a trainer. The Bills were unable to provide an update on the nature or severity of the injury because Matthews was still being evaluated.
It’s unclear when Matthews might have been hurt, though he did fall hard along the sideline while attempting to make a leaping catch in one-onone coverage.
Buffalo gave up starting cornerback Ronald Darby to acquire Matthews and a third-round draft pick from Philadelphia. The deal coincided with Buffalo trading Watkins to the Los Angeles Rams for cornerback E.J. Gaines and a second-round pick.