Day Eight Colts Training Camp Notebook: Andrew Luck To Miss Another Week Of Practice

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INDIANAPOLIS – We are now halfway done with the Colts 2019 Training Camp at Grand Park.

And the wait for Andrew Luck to get back onto the practice field will have to wait at least another week.

Frank Reich announced after Saturday’s practice that Luck (calf/ankle) will miss the next three days of practice, before the team heads to Buffalo for their preseason opener this coming Thursday.

So the earliest Luck will return to the practice field would be next Saturday (August 10^th), when the Colts enter their final week of work at Grand Park.

“It was still productive last week and we feel like we are on the right track,” Reich said of Luck now ramping up his work away from the practice field. “There’s a little bit of rehab, but we are in strength phase, too. Just to get back to full strength and be recovered from the injury, it’s another thing to be full strength. I think our goal is to get back to full strength.”

The Colts have had quarterback guru Tom House in Westfield to work with Luck during the QB’s now 4^th straight day of missing practice.

“When (Luck) has his throwing sessions, there is some movement in there and we are progressing in that,” Reich said on Saturday afternoon. “Make no mistake, Andrew is driving the truck here. He knows how he feels. He knows best what is going to get him ready.”

Luck’s absence from practice the next three days will mean he’s participated, limited, in just 3 of the team’s first 11 practices of camp.

The wait now will be approaching mid-August for Luck to take the next critical step in his recovery, which is a full week of practice, per Reich.

“I just think it’s important for (Luck’s) mentality and psyche that he just feels ready to go and we need a full week of practice, full speed, where he feels confident,” Reich said back on Tuesday. “That’s what we are looking for.”

Here are some other tidbits, non-Luck division, from Saturday’s eighth practice of Training Camp:

The Colts returned to the practice field after an off day, with a shorts and helmets practice. We did see our first ‘skirmish’ of camp between rookie LB-E.J. Speed and WR-Steve Ishmael. It was mostly just a couple of shoves and jawing between the two before teammates intervened. As Frank Reich said after the 8^th practice of camp, the Colts are ready to hit someone else.
When the Colts came out for their first defensive team rep on Saturday, it was a nickel group with Quincy Wilson and Bobby Okereke starting. This was the second straight practice of Okereke in the starting lineup, although Anthony Walker still saw some starting action. Even though Ya-Sin continues to be consistent with his playmaking, it’s still Wilson getting the early look with the starters every practice. Ya-Sin takes his fair share of starting reps each practice.

Even though the full pads weren’t on Saturday, you couldn’t help but notice the constant penetration from Tyquan Lewis. The Colts want Lewis to be a three-technique defensive tackle moving forward, and not the fill-in defensive end that was asked of him last year.
We saw a different dime look from the Colts on Saturday, Instead of the 4-1-6 look we saw from the Colts last year when they went to their dime personnel, the Colts used a 3-2-6 grouping on Saturday. It was three down linemen: Justin Houston, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Denico Autry; two linebackers: Darius Leonard, Anthony Walker; and six defensive backs: Kenny Moore, Pierre Desir, Quincy Wilson, Rock Ya-Sin, Clayton Geathers, Malik Hooker.
A couple of impressive leaping grabs on Saturday from WR-Deon Cain and TE-Mo Alie-Cox.
With Ryan Kelly (shoulder) missing the past few practices, the new starting center has been Josh Andrews, ahead of Evan Boehm. Last season, it was Boehm replacing an injured Kelly for 4 starts. Frank Reich said Andrews and Boehm are now competing for that backup center spot.
The two biggest plays from Saturday were a pair of beautiful deep balls from Jacoby Brissett and Philip Walker, respectively. Walker flung his on the run to Marcus Johnson. Honestly, Saturday was probably the best day we’ve seen from Walker this camp. Later in practice, Brissett hit Zach Pascal in stride for another deep touchdown.
T.Y. Hilton is liking what he’s seeing from Rock Ya-Sin: “Rock is one of those guys that’s really standing out,” Hilton said after another solid practice from the rookie. “He’s really going to be special in this league.”
Quincy Wilson forced an interception late in practice with a pass deflection falling into the arms of S-Derrick Kindred.
The Colts worked WR-Brandon Marshall out on Friday. Frank Reich shed some more light on that workout: “Chris (Ballard) has a really strong relationship with Brandon. Chris and his staff are always going to do a good job of keeping a pulse on what’s out there, whether it’s for now, or for later, or whatever the case may be. That’s just part of our normal protocol. We’ve been bringing in guys all throughout camp, at every position. It was good. It was good to see him yesterday. I’ve certainly admired his career. He’s been a great pro.” Marshall was traded to Chicago in 2012, when Ballard was the Director of Pro Scouting. This workout sounds much more like the Colts just seeing if there’s anything left in that Pro Bowl body of Marshall, who is 35 years old and is coming off two very underwhelming seasons of production. Plus, where would Marshall fit in Indy? Aren’t you paying Devin Funchess $10 million for a reason?

So with the Colts learning that Spencer Ware’s ankle rehab would take longer than their original timetable of 1-2 weeks, they decided to put the veteran running back on the reserve/PUP list, meaning it’s very unlikely he will play for the team this season. For that to happen, Ware would have to reach an injury settlement with the Colts. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Ware’s ankle issue should keep him out 5-6 weeks, but the Colts were not willing to wait that long with his roster spot counting. With Ware now gone, that’s good news for the likes of Jordan Wilkins and Jonathan Williams trying to round out this running back group.
Looking ahead to the playing time for Thursday’s preseason opener? Frank Reich told ‘Voice of the Colts’ Matt Taylor this about playing time for Thursday: “This is going to be a great opportunity, especially for a lot of our younger players, who will get to play a lot, week for your young guys,” the head coach said. “Our starters won’t play a whole lot going into this game. We are going to be very selective and cautious on that. Because we have this philosophy of practicing at game speed we just feel like we get to see that. The preseason games are even a better opportunity for the younger players to shine.” In last year’s preseason opener, the starters actually played a couple of series. Granted, things were a bit different given Andrew Luck coming back from the labrum and two new systems being installed with a first-year coaching staff. Reich added on Saturday that himself and Chris Ballard have made a list of “a few” guys who will not play in the Buffalo game.
ROSTER MOVES: On Friday, the Colts made a couple of roster moves. They brought back DE-Dadi Nicolas and placed injured RB-Spencer Ware on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. Nicolas returns with some injuries right now at the defensive end position. Then on Saturday morning, the Colts signed TE-Zach Conque and waived/injured TE-Billy Brown.
Something that will play out the rest of this month: Does the Andrew Luck injury situation factor into the Colts possibly carrying 3 quarterbacks on their 53-man roster? It’s a very fair question, one that Chad Kelly and Phillip Walker will try to confuse even more in the preseason. If the Colts feel they need a third QB come September, that will obviously take away a number from some other position group.

I thought Malik Hooker offered some really good insight in this article, talking about his defensive role in Matt Eberflus’ scheme. Hooker is really healthy, as he’s participated in every single practice this camp.
Here were the Colts who did not practice on Saturday: DE-Jabaal Sheard (sore knee, has missed 7 straight practices), WR-Parris Campbell (has missed 4 straight practices), WR-Penny Hart, QB-Andrew Luck (calf/ankle), TE-Ross Travis (hamstring), DE-Ben Banogu (hamstring), TE-Jack Doyle (oblique, not a major issue, per Frank Reich), C-Ryan Kelly (shoulder). RB-Jordan Wilkins and RT-Braden Smith both returned to practice. LB-Darius Leonard (back spasms) left practice for a bit on Saturday as he got treatment for around 10-15 minutes, but he later returned.
The Colts will now have three more afternoon practices (Sunday-Tuesday) before heading to Buffalo for their preseason opener. When the Colts return from Buffalo, they will have 5 practices left this camp, including the 2 joint sessions with the Browns.