Colts' Andrew Luck practices for first time, but limited to snaps and handoffs
Gradual progress is being made in the strange saga of Andrew Luck's shoulder injury. On Tuesday, the Colts revealed that Luck participated in their first practice under new coach Frank Reich, though his participation was limited to quarterback-center exchanges and handoffs, which means he's still not throwing passes.
Still, as the Colts noted in their release, it's the first time Luck has been able to play an "active role" at practice. Progress!
No. 12 does QB/center exchanges, handoffs in first practice action since last season: https://t.co/WwdN86aKcG pic.twitter.com/d9ky2LkZYN — Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) April 24, 2018
Luck, who is recovering from shoulder surgery, hasn't played in an NFL game since the 2016 season. The entire saga has been a strange one. It began in January of 2017 when the Colts revealed Luck underwent surgery on his throwing shoulder to fix a lingering issue. At the time, Colts owner Jim Irsay said that Luck would be ready in time for the season opener. But Luck never played in a game. He missed the entire 2017 season.
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And now, questions regarding his long-term future in the league have emerged. Though Colts general manager Chris Ballard along with Reich and Luck have maintained all along that they're confident in his recovery process, it's still not known when he'll begin throwing a football again.
"There's a process," Luck said earlier this month, via ESPN.com. "I've gone and skipped steps before and paid for it. Been in pain and not able to help the team. Embarrassed, guilty, whatever. I'm not going to do that again. I trust the people I'm working with. More importantly, I trust myself in this process. I trust how I feel. Progress is my guiding light. If I'm making progress, I know that's important. There is a plan in place and I'll keep trusting it."
Luck returning to practice is nice to see, but until he starts throwing a football again, a general feeling of skepticism -- cautious optimism --- should remain in place.