Yes, Andrew Luck is practicing this week. No, he’s still not playing this week.
#asexpected, Colts coach Chuck Pagano told reporters that his star quarterback was working his way back by joining the team at practice today, but would not play this week against San Francisco.
It’s his first visible football activity since January surgery on his right shoulder. Pagano said Luck would warm up with the other quarterbacks and do individual work, then throw some routes against air. The plan is that he will take Thursday off and work again Friday, as they ease him back in to work.
“There’s a pitch count,” Pagano said of Luck’s workload, via Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. “There’s a number.”
The Colts are smart to monitor Luck’s early workload, and have an example of what can happen. Though their surgeries were different, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton threw the first four days of training camp, then needed 14 days off before he could resume work. The result was some extremely rusty performances early on.