Indianapolis Colts: Mixed signals convolute Andrew Luck situation
The Indianapolis Colts would ideally start Andrew Luck at quarterback come Week 1, but there are mixed signals flying around and creating confusion.
Andrew Luck was supposed to be the starting quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts in the 2017 season. However, his rehabilitation from a shoulder injury went awry and that never happened. The first-overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft didn’t play a down this past season. And now we’re left with him still rehabbing his throwing shoulder and the hope that he’ll be the guy in the 2018 season.
The general belief coming out of the Colts front office’s mouth right now is that Luck will be back for this season. General manager Chris Ballard said recently that the team’s willingness to trade down to No. 6 from No. 3 in the 2018 NFL Draft indicates their faith in Luck’s return, per Pro Football Talk.
In a vacuum, that would show real faith in their franchise quarterback. This despite the fact that Luck has yet to start throwing NFL footballs at this point, which doesn’t sound great when the preseason begins in under four months. However, the front office is also sending mixed signals.
Ballard pointing to the trade down in the draft for indications that the Colts have faith in Luck’s return very much appears to be cherry-picking facts about the situation to fit the narrative he wants to portray. The reason that seems that way is because there are other mixed signals being thrown out, most notably regarding Jacoby Brissett.
Brissett, who the Colts acquired via trade last year to start in Luck’s absence, performed admirably with a pretty bad roster around him last season. As such, there has been a market for his services this offseason. Indianapolis has reportedly had multiple trade offers for the quarterback this offseason. But the mixed signals come from the fact that the Colts are not willing to trade him, per Pro Football Talk as well.
Admittedly, having Brissett even if Luck is healthy is a luxury. Luck obviously hasn’t been the picture of health throughout his career and would be coming off of an injury should he play in 2018. As such, having a proven backup in Brissett while continuing to build the rest of the roster to make sense. Moreover, we don’t know what these trade offers for Brissett have been.
Having said that, the perceived “faith” in Brissett could also be construed as a lack of faith in Luck’s health at this point. Again, the franchise guy isn’t throwing footballs yet. Until he does that, it’s hard to fully believe that he’ll be under center come Week 1 or believe in how effective he’ll be if he is on the field.
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Subsequently, Colts fans are left in limbo when it comes to the Luck situation and it’s difficult to ascertain what the truth is with this situation. It could be as simple as what the front office is selling — or it could be a much more dire situation in regards to Luck’s future. We don’t know, and that makes this offseason for Indianapolis that much more intriguing heading into the draft and then offseason workouts.