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« on: November 27th, 2019, 3:03pm »
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WESTFIELD Christine Michael Sr Jersey , Ind. (AP) ¡ª Andrew Luck felt like a different guy as he strolled down the tree-lined path to the Colts practice field Thursday.The recently married quarterback and now expectant father made the short trek, confident in his surgically repaired right shoulder and football future.And despite being limited to individual drills by a strained left calf as training camp opened, even the Indianapolis Colts quarterback took a few moments to reflect on how much has changed since he first appeared at Grand Park Sports Campus last July.¡°I remember walking through that sort of tunnel in the trees. Today I was sitting there thinking about it and how scared I was to go practice and how nervous I was,¡± Luck said.¡°I had no idea what the heck was going to happen on this practice field. I remember it being a very powerful feeling and then feeling so happy and almost relieved like I¡¯d survived. Survived practice. My arm is still attached to my shoulder. That¡¯s certainly a much different feeling this year.¡±Those initial fears gradually dissipated with a steady progression of successful steps ¡ª proving to himself the throwing arm could withstand the NFL rigors, leading the Colts back from a 1-5 start to end a three-year playoff drought and eventually winning the league¡¯s Comeback Player of the Year award.Now Luck begins this season with another light workload.In 2016, team officials rested Luck as part of an effort to protect the sore shoulder he initially injured in September 2015. After opting for surgery on the still-ailing shoulder in January 2017, Luck missed all of training camp ¡ª and the entire season. Last year, Luck slowly returned with coach Frank Reich and general manager Chris Ballard closely monitoring Luck¡¯s passing totals at camp to assure he¡¯d be healthy for the season opener.It worked.This time, it¡¯s different.Instead of talking about his arm, Luck has spent much of the offseason answering questions about the leg injury that kept him out of all of the team¡¯s offseason workouts this spring, prevented him from working out with his teammates on the West Coast between June and July and now has limited his work early in camp.Luck threw Thursday in individual drills and is expected to return to seven-on-seven work Friday. Reich said Luck¡¯s injury would be evaluated each day and hopes his starting quarterback is back in full action by early next week.But with their preseason opener two weeks away and their regular-season opener more than six weeks away, nobody at Colts camp is panicked. Instead, they¡¯re playing it safe.¡°When you don¡¯t go the whole spring, I just think it¡¯s the smart thing to do,¡± Reich said. ¡°We¡¯ve got plenty of time. He¡¯s working hard, he¡¯s dialed in and he¡¯ll get plenty of reps out here.¡±Besides, the Colts have a pretty good idea of how Luck will play once he is healthy.In his first season under Reich, Luck set career highs in attempts (630), completions (430), completion rate (67.3 percent) and quarterback rating (98.7) while being sacked a career-low 18 times. He flirted with career highs in yards passing (4,593) and touchdown passes (39) and finished with the second-lowest interception rate (2.34 percent) of his career.He played in all 16 games for the first time since 2014 when he led the Colts to the AFC championship game, engineered a six-win improvement over 2017 and made his fourth Pro Bowl appearance.The Colts encouraged Luck to take some well-deserved time off following their divisional-round loss to Kansas City, but sometime before the start of OTAs, Luck injured his lower left leg.So he spent the spring studying playbooks, watching game tape and demonstrating his mastery of Reich¡¯s offense by explaining what he liked and didn¡¯t like last season, discussing adjustments and what could be changed in 2019.¡°He had input last year, but it¡¯s not even close to the same level. We were installing it and it was more listening with a few comments here and there,¡± Reich said.¡°I think it has taken the meetings to a higher level and even when it¡¯s the quarterback meetings with (offensive coordinator) Nick (Sirianni) Pat McAfee Color Rush Jersey , (quarterbacks coach) Marcus (Brady) and myself, but even in the offensive meetings. The voice he has in there making sure he is talking to receivers, tight ends, backs. He has had a real strong presence this offseason.¡±And it should give the Colts a leg up on their competition when Luck returns.¡°You can go to bed saying, ¡®I wish I didn¡¯t pull my calf. I wish I didn¡¯t feel like this,¡± Luck said. ¡°I know anybody coming back from any type of injury, it¡¯s the same thing. You¡¯ve got to keep working and getting better and trust that.¡± INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ¡ª Reality hit hard as soon as the Indianapolis Colts walked into their locker room Monday morning.Andrew Luck¡¯s stall was empty, the name plate gone, the era over.Coach Frank Reich and general manager Chris Ballard started the day with a team meeting to discuss how the Colts would proceed without their newly retired starting quarterback.Luck¡¯s replacement, Jacoby Brissett, took the podium inside a packed media room, Pro Bowl receiver T.Y. Hilton wore a Stanford baseball cap to honor his 2012 draft classmate and then it was time to get back to work.¡°In one respect this story is unique and shocking,¡± coach Frank Reich said. ¡°But it¡¯s happened enough where a team loses a great player, and it galvanizes a team and propels them to a championship.¡±The former pastor has a vast array of resources to make the point, some from his own experiences.In 1989, when Jim Kelly got hurt most thought the Buffalo Bills would slow things down for his backup, Reich.Instead, coach Marv Levy didn¡¯t change a thing and Reich responded by leading the Bills to three consecutive wins. Three years later, with Kelly out again, Reich won two playoff games, including the greatest comeback in postseason history as the Bills eventually won their third straight AFC title.In 2017, Reich was Philadelphia¡¯s offensive coordinator when MVP candidate Carson Wentz tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee ¡ª an injury many expected to derail the Eagles¡¯ title hopes. Instead, Nick Foles stepped in and led Philadelphia to its first title since 1960.Then there was the seemingly made-for-TV script from two decades ago when a grocery store bagger-turned-quarterback Kurt Warner took over for the injured Trent Green and led the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl title. Warner was the league¡¯s MVP, too.But Reich and the Colts know this season is not about the past. They must focus on adding their own, unique chapter to the underdog story to fill the hole in the middle of the locker room.¡°I need to be Jacoby Brissett, just be myself,¡± he said when asked about permanently replacing his close friend. ¡°It¡¯s always been prepare like you¡¯re the starter.¡±Outside the locker room, many doubt Brissett can emerge as the next Foles https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Jack-Doyle-Jersey , Warner or even Reich. Brissett went 4-11 in 2017, becoming the starter less than two weeks after Indy acquired him in a trade from New England, behind an offensive line that allowed the most sacks in the NFL that season.Around the Colts¡¯ complex, though, there are plenty of Brissett believers.Reich noted Brissett has taken more than 1,200 snaps with the starting unit since April when offseason workouts started as Luck tried to recover from a lower left leg injury.Plus, he¡¯s working with a coach who has been down this road previously. Reich spent his first decade in the NFL playing behind a Hall of Famer, needing to be ready at every moment. It¡¯s a conversation the two have had multiple times since Reich was hired 18½ months ago.¡°From Day 1, I came in and watched all of Jacoby¡¯s film and I said this guy is a top-20 quarterback, this guy is a starting quarterback in the NFL,¡± Reich said. ¡°This guy is all in, he¡¯s not just checking off boxes. He¡¯s a great leader and I¡¯m excited for him.¡±So are teammates, who have embraced Brissett¡¯s hard-working approach on the field and his fun-loving style off it.As for Luck, teammates universally backed his decision to walk away two weeks before the Sept. 8 season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers.Some, like Brissett and left tackle Anthony Castonzo, acknowledged Luck let them in on the secret before Saturday¡¯s game. Most, like All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard, said they found out as word trickled out on the sideline.Luck made his formal announcement to the team in the postgame locker room, just moments before going public with the decision.Castonzo understood.¡°Everybody deals with the pain, it¡¯s when you¡¯re out there and you¡¯re doing something and you feel yourself not being able to change direction or miss a throw in his case,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s when the pain starts to affect your ability on the field is when it really gets to you.¡±Most were disappointed with the chorus of boos Luck heard from fans as he left the Lucas Oil Stadium turf for the final time.¡°It sucked,¡± Brissett said, acknowledging Luck was at peace with the choice. ¡°I mean you don¡¯t want to hear that, especially for a guy like that who¡¯s done what he¡¯s done and what he¡¯s been through.¡±But it didn¡¯t take the Colts long to move on from Saturday ¡ª or the announcement that shocked the football world.¡°It¡¯s the same old, same old,¡± Leonard said. ¡°He¡¯s a great player, we respect everything Andrew does. But now we¡¯re focused on Jacoby Brissett and winning games.¡±
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