Report: Andrew Luck not close to returning to Colts practice

Shalise Manza Young
·Columnist

Two weeks after Indianapolis Colts team doctors shut down Andrew Luck and gave him a cortisone shot to combat soreness in his surgically repaired right shoulder, the soreness is persisting and Luck is no closer to returning to the practice field.

According to Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star, the persistent soreness has the Colts looking for answers, and the plan is for Luck to meet with multiple shoulder specialists over the next several days to try to figure out the source of the soreness.

Quuarterback Andrew Luck, third from left, may not be back in uniform with his Colts teammates in 2017. (AP)
Quuarterback Andrew Luck, third from left, may not be back in uniform with his Colts teammates in 2017. (AP)

Luck returned to practice in early October on a limited basis; it had been nine months since Luck had surgery to repair his partially torn labrum. But after two weeks of practice, which included Luck throwing to receivers but against air (no defenders) and seeing an increase in his velocity, the team shut him down and give him the shot.

General manager Chris Ballard announced the development on Oct. 18 during a news conference. Luck hasn’t practiced since, and it’s unclear when he’ll return to practice.

We are about to start Week 9; the longer Luck goes without practicing, the more unlikely he is to play in 2017.

But Holder notes that the Colts have maintained a conservative approach to Luck’s comeback, and that will not change. The team’s focus right now is to learn the source of Luck’s soreness and address it.

The Colts were leading the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-17, in the fourth quarter on Sunday but then Bengals’ Carlos Dunlap registered a pick-six, intercepting Jacoby Brissett and returning it 16 yards for what proved to be the game-winning points.

Indianapolis had two more possessions before the end of the game; on the second, a 19-yard pass to Jack Doyle on first down was overturned after the Bengals challenged the completion call and won.

The Colts fell to 2-6 and are in last place in the AFC South.

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