Insider: Andrew Luck looks ready to carry the Colts in 2018

Zak Keefer Indianapolis Star

Published 2:04 p.m. UTC Aug 26, 2018

INDIANAPOLIS — For stretches it looked and felt like 2015 all over again, save for one very important thing: that throbbing, damaged right shoulder of his, the one that led to the hell that was the last two and a half years for Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts.

It doesn’t throb anymore. “Feels awesome,” Luck beamed Saturday night.

Still, he was a one-man band in the Colts’ third and most vital preseason game, playing behind a leaky offensive line, aided by no run game whatsoever, carrying a unit and a team as far as his prodigious talents possibly can. Which, to be clear, is pretty dang far.

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Even the audible gasps were back, those moments of apprehension inside Lucas Oil Stadium each time Luck’s surgically-repaired throwing shoulder was slammed into the turf, which it was too often Saturday night. To the city’s great relief, the $140 million quarterback popped back up to his feet each time, smiling, anxious for more.

But for too long, it felt like this team was flirting with disaster.

Disaster was averted, and if Saturday’s 23-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers was as close a glimpse at what Andrew Luck will look like in this upcoming 2018 season as we'll get, it was enough. He was sharp and smart, his dynamic athletic ability on display one minute, his revived right shoulder dropping dimes the next. It was as complete a performance as Luck has authored in this preseason: 8-for-10 for 90 yards and a gorgeous touchdown throw to Eric Ebron, plus four scampers from the pocket for 27 yards (and three Ricky Henderson-quality slides!).

More than at any point over the last month, he looked like the Andrew Luck of old.

“I’m not going to lie to you guys, I actually feel good and strong,” Luck said, addressing the most important element in this entire preseason. “My shoulder felt alive. I was a little happier with where the ball went when I threw it. A little bit more of a sense, ‘I wanna back-shoulder this to Ryan (Grant) on the sideline. Good. It ended up where I wanted it to.’

"I keep feeling and seeing improvement. ... I feel way more confident. I feel like I’ve proven (a lot) to myself.”

He showed up to training camp in late July, and spoke of how much he wanted to back up his words. He has.

And, just for old time’s sake, Luck did all this the same way he used to: with very little help. Two backup offensive tackles who left him routinely running for his life; a run game that produced all of five yards in the first half (excluding scrambles by the quarterback); a receiving core that, at this juncture, remains T.Y. Hilton and a bunch of question marks.

And therein lies the problem. For the most part, it seems, Luck’s gonna have to do this himself.

Again.

On the other side of the coin, this remains the preseason, meaningless as it is. The Colts have been exceptionally – and purposefully – vanilla on offense in August. The constant movement the team installed during training camp in Westfield under new coach Frank Reich and new coordinator Nick Sirianni (changing personnel, motions, shifts, run-pass options, deep shots) was nowhere to be seen. As Reich put it, they’re saving the good stuff for “when it counts.”

It counts two weeks from Sunday, the team’s regular season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.

“As a play-caller on the sideline, I could feel the rhythm offensively,” Reich said Saturday night, encouraged by the offensive improvement he saw. “I could feel it was there. Just gotta get more points out of it.”

While it’s not a certainty, expected back for the opener is Anthony Castonzo, the left tackle for this team the last seven years and as vital a component as there is on this offensive line. With Castonzo out the last month, fighting that nagging hamstring injury of his, the Colts have played musical chairs at the tackle positions to absolutely no success.

With his projected return, they won’t have to help on the left side, allowing them to add another blocker – a running back, a tight end – on the leaky right. That spot, as up in the air as any on this roster, might’ve taken another major blow Saturday night, when Denzelle Good took a shot to the inside of his left knee. Good, finally back after battling a Grade 2 hamstring tear early in camp, had his sights set on that starting right tackle spot, and was putting the tape out there to back it up.

“I definitely think I have a chance to be that guy,” Good said. “I can’t read the coach’s mind, but I can give them whatever they ask for.”

A Sunday morning scan on his knee will reveal the severity of Good’s knee injury; he vowed he was feeling “no pain” late Saturday night, but did acknowledge that it “feels a little loose.”

Good’s status adds injury to insult. The Colts’ starter Saturday night, Austin Howard, was beaten so badly on the first third-down of the game that the coaches yanked him. He’s not the answer there. Is Braden Smith, the rookie? Joe Haeg? J’Marcus Webb? At this point, even Reich has acknowledged they’re searching for an solution.

(Another injury of note, defensive lineman John Simon exited Saturday’s game with a neck injury, the same part of the body that cost him seven games in 2017. He’ll also have a closer examination on Sunday.)

On the other side of the ball, coordinator Matt Eberflus’ unit is doing a mediocre impersonation of the bend-don’t-break mantra that seems to embody Tony Dungy’s Tampa-2 scheme. As in: the 49ers’ first-team bent them back at will Saturday night, especially on the ground. San Francisco’s Alfred Morris, scooped up off the street less than a month ago after the Niners experienced a rash of injuries at the position, darted for 84 easy yards on 17 carries.

And when that carries over into the regular season – and it will – that presents another problem for this unproven Colts’ defense. Teams will lean on the run to set up the play-action, and Indy’s corners won’t be good enough to stop the bleeding.

The one anchor keeping hope alive is the franchise quarterback, recharged after a year away, driven by the progress he sees every day and every week. Forget the lousy run game, the questions at tackle or the mediocre defense.

Andrew Luck hasn’t had any setbacks this month, and for stretches Saturday night started to look like the Andrew Luck of old.

Nothing for this team could be bigger.

Call Star reporter Zak Keefer at (317) 444-6134 and follow him on Twitter: @zkeefer.

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