Yes, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck threw a football yesterday. Specifically, a Wilson TDS 1205, a high school size ball.
But those tosses were just the ones people saw.
Luck said he went out and played catch with coach Frank Reich three weeks ago with “The Duke,” a regulation NFL football. It marked the first time he had done so since last October’s failed attempt to return from shoulder surgery, and he could tell it was different this time.
“It’s gone,” Luck said of the pain, via Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star. “The pain is gone and it’s going to stay that way.”
Luck also insisted yesterday that he would be ready for the regular season opener, but after eight months since last throwing, and a year and a half from the surgery, it’s reasonable to be skeptical (especially after owner Jim Irsay’s promises a year ago which baited in paying customers).
But Luck said all the rehab and work he’s done this offseason has him in a better place, as he gradually increases his workload.
“A very different soreness,” Luck said. “I had pain last year (that) I wasn’t being honest to myself about. I was trying to get through pain, per se. There’s none of that now. . . .
“Absolutely. The feeling continues to go down, down, down. My arm feels normal. . . . Simply, I feel better. My dips after throwing . . . are much less. My body doesn’t revolt, in a sense, to new things. I trust myself. I push myself. We go hard . . . you might not see it, but I go hard. I feel like I improve and I don’t dip as much. (It’s not like) ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t move my arm for the rest of the day.’ It’s, ‘All right, when are we going (to work out) next? Let’s recover. Let’s move.’ And that’s different.”
And that’s what the Colts season is riding on.