When a turnover happens, the quarterback typically assumes the role of deep safety, trying to get in position to take an angle and push the ball carrier out of bounds without assuming undue risk of injury.
In this regard (and many others), Colts quarterback Andrew Luck isn’t typical.
He threw a second-half interception as the Colts were driving for another score. And though Luck was hit by a couple of Jaguars as he threw the ball, Luck got up and didn’t look for an angle but made a beeline to Dawan Landry.
Colts interim coach Bruce Arians was nervous. For Landry.
“I’ve seen it before in college,” Arians said of Luck after the gave, via quotes distributed by the team. “I was afraid he was going to try and take his head off. He gets ticked off when he throws those interceptions. I’ll be honest with you.”
Luck said there was no anger or frustration involved. Sort of. “It was football instincts,” Luck said. “You see the guy on the other team with the ball, you’re going to try and tackle him. If I’m going to be the one who turns the ball over, I’m going to at least try and stop the guy.”
Luck did more than try. He went in head first, striking Landry in the leg with a helmet, only several inches above a spot where Landry’s ACL could have blown apart.
It ultimately was a clean, legal play, and Landry wasn’t injured. While few other quarterbacks would do the same thing, look for Luck to not shy away from using his height and weight and speed and agility to do more than provide the last line of defense, especially when it’s his fault that the defense has the ball.