Andrew Luck continues to sit out practices due to a nagging calf injury.
The issue has been lingering for three months and doesn't have a timetable that might suggest when he will be healthy enough to return to practice. Despite the amorphous timeline, the signal-caller isn't fretting. Luck told Peter King for his Football Morning in America column on Sunday he's not concerned about being ready for Week 1.
"No," Luck told King when asked if he was worried about not being ready for the season opener. "I certainly believe I will [be ready]. That's certainly the goal."
Turning 30 next month, Luck's calf issue isn't nearly as concerning as his previous shoulder issue that wiped out an entire season. But the nagging aspect of the lingering calf problem seems grating.
"At times I do worry about it," Luck told King. "It can be frustrating. The arc of an injury, whether it's a big surgical one or something you're rehabbing through. But no, because I've improved. Maybe I'm not improving as fast as I want and missing things is no fun. It eats at you. But I do know at the end of the day if I'm getting the most out of myself, if I'm being the best I can that day, then that's what I need to do."
Luck will continue to miss practices, and coach Frank Reich said the team didn't know when the starting quarterback might be cleared.
While the uncertainty of the situation hangs over the Colts, Reich said he's not dwelling on Luck's injury because there's little utility in agonizing over something he can't control.
"As a former player and as a coach, it's just always my instinct to trust the player," Reich said. "I really don't lay awake at night thinking about it. When our players have injuries, I'm not the guy who's asking every five minutes how they're doing. That's just the way I am. Part of that is because I think my 14 years of experience as a player ... I know he wants to be there as bad as anybody. Me asking him every five minutes how he's doing doesn't help anything."
We know Luck won't participate in the Colts' preseason tilt this week versus the Buffalo Bills on Thursday. It seems likely he'll be held out of the entire preseason, with Week 1, on Sept. 8 versus the Los Angeles Chargers, being the target date. So long as Luck is back at practice before then and ready for the season opener, all the preseason consternation will be washed away.
