USA TODAY International Edition
COLTS PLAY FAST, LOOSE WITH LUCK
The hits have finally caught up to Andrew Luck. The Indianapolis Colts quarterback finally started looking like himself again in Sunday’s win against the Denver Broncos, but that meant he took a beating, absorbing hit after hit, either in the pocket or escaping it.
One of those hits early in the fourth quarter resulted in a lacerated kidney and a partial tear to an abdominal muscle, injuries that will keep him out for two to six weeks, the team announced Tuesday.
No one should question Luck’s toughness after he finished that game, but it’s fair to question the Colts about why Luck was put into a situation in which he would take such a beating.
The offensive line has been a major liability all season, and now the franchise’s most important player is sidelined again. He managed to recover from the shoulder injury that kept him out of two games this season, and veteran backup quarterback Matt Hasselbeck led the Colts to two wins.
And the league still is investigating whether the Colts failed to report Luck played with broken ribs.
But now he has internal injuries that don’t have as clear a timeline for recovery.
Though the Colts said Tuesday that they don’t expect Luck to need surgery, this has to be a wake- up call for general manager Ryan Grigson, who has repeatedly failed to address the team’s needs on the offensive line.
You better protect your quarterback, and the Colts have failed to do so this year.
The Colts might be in a better position than most teams to survive without their starting quarterback in the short term, thanks to Hasselbeck and a weak AFC South.
And they have a fairly favorable schedule after this week’s bye, starting against the reeling Atlanta Falcons and then the 3- 5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Colts also could be without Luck when they face key divisional games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans.
The offense will have to shift, as it cannot count on Luck’s ability to scramble. New offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski must devise game plans that rely on running backs Frank Gore and Ahmad Bradshaw, and they might need to remain a bigger part of the Colts’ plan whenever Luck is back. But those are short- term fixes. Long term, Grigson can’t keep living this dangerously with his quarterback. He can’t expect Luck to just tough it out and survive behind an offensive line that has been cobbled together rather than truly built through big spending on free agency or high picks in the draft.