UPDATE (Thursday, Oct. 15, 8 p.m. ET): Andrew Luck is expected to play Sunday versus the New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay told ESPN.com on Thursday night.
“I really think that, unless something happens, I see him being a go Sunday,” Irsay said of his quarterback. “I’m not saying 100 percent for sure, but I think there’s a strong likelihood he’s a go. I was with him (Thursday), and he’s feeling a lot better.”
Irsay also confirmed Luck’s shoulder injury was not a separation.
“I’m not sure where the report came from,” Irsay said. “It wasn’t that type of injury where it was separated. It wasn’t separated.
ORIGINAL STORY: Andrew Luck’s shoulder injury is rather mysterious.
The Indianapolis Colts quarterback has missed back-to-back games despite practicing in that span, and head coach Chuck Pagano has told reporters several times that Luck is “trending in the right direction.”
Pagano doubled-down on that phrase Wednesday after Luck was a limited participant in practice, but the signal-caller’s own words suggest he could return Sunday against the New England Patriots.
“Pretty darn close to where I want to be,” Luck said after Wednesday’s practice, according to The Indianapolis Star.
While Luck officially was listed as limited Wednesday, reports from Colts practice paint a brighter picture as far as his availability for Sunday night’s AFC Championship Game rematch is concerned.
Luck threw the football 25 to 30 yards on more than one snap with the Colts’ first-team offense Wednesday, according to The Star. This is a step forward from the last couple of weeks in which Luck watched as backup QB Matt Hasselbeck took snaps with the first-team offense.
“If he’s ready to go, we’ll put him out there,” Pagano told reporters of Luck. “That’s as far as I’ll say on that. He’s a great communicator, and we’ve got great docs and great trainers working with him. When he’s ready, we’re going to put him out there.”
For now, Luck still is day to day.
Thumbnail photo via Jim Brown/USA TODAY Sports Images
