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INDIANAPOLIS – When Jim Irsay spoke last preseason, a couple of thing stood out.
-Irsay said Andrew Luck could even play in the regular season opener.
-Irsay also said that some of Luck’s problems in his rehab could be attributed to things “between the ears.”
Well, Luck possibly being ready for Week One was certainly not true (Luck didn’t play at all in 2017).
But there was some merit to Irsay’s second comment.
Even Luck admitted, a few months later, that the mental aspect of his rehab was prevalent.
“I think there are mental things that anybody who’s injured goes through in any surgery – and not just football, but in any part of life,” Luck said back in December. “That’s something you have to work through and the frustration of not being out there is part of it. Understanding, I think naturally, I’m somewhat of an impatient person. In understanding that patience truly is a virtue and is necessary in situations has been important for me to understand.”
Just last month, Luck acknowledged a mental block he needed to get past in throwing a normal NFL-football again.
It’s why Luck wanted to toss ‘The Duke’ behind a closed door just with head coach Frank Reich, in a casual pitch and catch setting, before ramping things up
“Honestly, there was a little mental block to doing it and I had to do it sort of by myself,” Luck admitted in June.
Even outside of Luck’s mental hurdle of getting back to throwing an NFL football, there’s the lack of familiarity the quarterback is facing with this new roster:
- Of the 6 running backs on the roster, Luck hasn’t played with 4 of them. And he’s been with Robert Turbin and Josh Ferguson for just 1 season each (44 career combined catches from Luck).
- Of the 13 wide receivers on the roster, Luck hasn’t played with 11 of them. And he’s been with Chester Rogers for just 1 season (19 career catches from Luck).
- Of the 6 tight ends on the roster, Luck hasn’t played with 4 of them. And he’s been with Erik Swoope for just 1 season (14 career catches from Luck).
- Of Luck’s projected starting offensive line in 2018, he’s only played with 2 of the 5 (Anthony Castonzo and just 1 season with Ryan Kelly).
These are the questions that remain unanswered for Andrew Luck, and they extend past his right shoulder being healthy enough to throw like an elite NFL quarterback.
