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It has been an arduous road to recovery from shoulder surgery over the last year for Indianapolis Colts star quarterback Andrew Luck. Things continued to move in the right direction over the last few months, putting him potentially on pace to be back on the field well before the start of the 2018 season.
This has become an encouraging step forward from the constant shoulder issues he was having throughout much of last year. According to Ian Rapoport of The NFL Network, Luck stated on Monday that he has moved forward steadily in his recovery, but he's yet to throw an actual football.
#Colts QB Andrew Luck, speaking to reporters today, says he’s “very, very optimistic” but hasn’t thrown a real football yet (which he calls The Duke). Adds that if he wasn’t making progress, he’d be freaking out. He is not freaking out.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 9, 2018
There were reports a few weeks ago stating that he began to throw a weighted ball to strengthen his arm, so the fact that he hasn't thrown a football shouldn't cause any concern. If he has kept a positive outlook on the progress he has made in recent months, this should be the grander take away from this new report.
Although these are not clear comments about when he will return to the field, it should create more optimism about Luck's prospects for the 2018 season and beyond. The team still has strong faith in him being the franchise cornerstone under center for the next several years. Keep in mind, Luck still has four years left on his five-year, $122.9 million deal that runs through the 2021 season. What should also be noted is that he has a $40.2 million dead cap hit for 2018, which makes it quite difficult to move him if there was ever that desire.
When healthy, he has already proven he lift the team to great heights, taking the team to three straight playoff appearances to start his career, highlighted by a trip to the AFC Championship game. All of this may come down to the Colts remaining patient with the process that, from the outlooks, should see them get their franchise quarterback back in the mix at some point this offseason.
