After a 2018 offseason in which Indianapolis Colts fans didn't know if Andrew Luck would be healthy or not, he quickly proved that he can still be amongst the league's best. Following an outstanding 2018 campaign, Luck is firmly in the MVP hunt entering 2019, as Super Bowl talks ramp up. But, now, he's dealing with another injury.

On July 30th, it was reported, via CBS' Jason La Canfora, that Luck missed training camp due to a calf strain. He mentions, “Team focused on managing that now and will give him time to recover fully, but it certainly needs to be monitored.”

The injury wasn't anything new, as in May, reports surfaced that he had been dealing with a minor calf strain. Now, the quarterback has missed his third straight.

But, it does not yet cause to worry. Luck and the Colts are playing it safe, and not putting an exact timetable on the return, as Luck says “bodies don't care about a date.” The quarterback has gotten the calf looked upon, as he talks about the area of pain and the reports from X-Rays to the media at training camp.

“The nature of it is a calf strain. I say lower leg because I feel pain in my ankle area. I've had images and x-rays and everything and my Achilles is not at extra risk. There's no tear or swelling in there, or anything that's indicated. It's a calf strain, we are on our feet a lot.”

Luck was standing well when talking to the press, not indicating that he's in mind-numbing pain, as he says, “I've played games in much more pain.” But, it's early August practice, and he has a firm grasp of the playbook. He doesn't want to risk anything, nor does he want to provide his teams seeking valuable reps with average play.

“To be the best quarterback I can to be — to help this team, like I want to him them — I can't be, I'm not looking not for average. And, if I'm going out here with pain, I'll be average. I will feel like an average quarterback and I'll be an average quarterback. That's not good enough for me, that's not good enough for this club.”

He further mentions that his mindset of backing off of practice isn't to deal with a lingering, albeit minor, issue.

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“I'm working on resolving this issue. That is priority one. There are still ways to get better as a quarterback with meetings,” Luck said.

Considering his past injuries, a calf strain doesn't compare to the career-threatening shoulder ailments. He's never, before this offseason, been flagged as having a lower-body issue in his NFL career, as injuries report. Luck is one of the more honest quarterbacks with the media — that's why his quotes matter — and knows how to talk about his injuries.

If Luck says that he's out to protect his future and avoid lousy play, which he did, you can believe that. In all likelihood, both he and the Colts are playing it safe, as he is, without a doubt, the most important player to the team.