Colts hoping for beginner’s Luck as NFL debut approaches for No. 1 draft pick
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Andrew Luck has been watching Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher most of his football life.
On Sunday, after spending a full week studying the Chicago Bears’ defence, the rookie quarterback will finally get a chance to see the two Pro Bowlers in action. He’s just hoping not to get too close to them.
“I think at first when you turn the film on, you’re like, ’Oh my gosh, that is Julius Peppers standing up there.’ But you have to get that out of your system and you can’t go out there and stare in awe of those guys,” Luck said. “Obviously, you watch them growing up, but you’re not trying to get autographs from them, you’re trying to win a game.”
Luck knows he cannot afford to be star struck when he makes his NFL debut Sunday.
Every play call and every throw will be dissected by national analysts. Every Colts fan will make the inevitable comparisons between Luck and his predecessor, Peyton Manning. Every scout will be trying to gauge whether they got it right when they tabbed Luck as the most NFL-ready quarterback since Manning entered the league in 1998 or John Elway in 1983.
They’re not alone. Inside the Colts’ complex, staff members and teammates are also curious to see how the No. 1 draft pick performs. First-time head coach Chuck Pagano wants to see what Luck does when defences really crank up the pressure. Center Samson Satele has been quizzing the Stanford grad about pass protections, and defensive players are eager to find out if they’ve taught Luck enough over the past 6 1/2 weeks.
“There is no doubt in my mind that this kid is everything that was wrote about him, talked about him, and said about him in the past months,” defensive end Cory Redding said.