Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is officially listed as “questionable” heading into Sunday night’s matchup against the New England Patriots. However, he still participated in the team’s practice Friday as a full participant and apparently looked good:
I'm not a doctor/trainer, but from what we saw at #colts practice, Andrew Luck looks ready to go. Better zip on passes.
— Mike Chappell (@mchappell51) October 16, 2015
All signs are pointing that Luck will be healthy enough to start on Sunday, as head coach Chuck Pagano was optimistic about his chances of playing against the Colts’ arch-nemesis:
"“He looks good right now,” replied Pagano on how Luck practiced Friday. “Good chance (of playing).”"
Of course, Luck has missed the team’s last two games because of a shoulder injury. While Pagano has consistently maintained that Luck has been “trending in the right direction” the past two weeks, this time it actually feels like Luck will be starting come Sunday night:
"“Every single day he’s gotten better,” added Pagano. “He’s obviously as close as he’s ever been.”"
While backup Matt Hasselbeck has been nothing short of excellent in relief of Luck, the Colts will likely need their star quarterback behind center if the team actually wants to realistically upset the 4-0 Patriots. No disrespect to Hasselbeck, but when Luck’s playing at a high level, it makes this Colts team totally different and a true contender capable of beating anyone.
However, Luck will have to play better than he has in the past against the Patriots. In 3 career games (all blowout losses) versus New England, Luck has completed 54 of 113 passes (47.8%) for 760 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions. While some of that can be attributed to garbage time with each game already out of reach, Luck hasn’t exactly looked very sharp against New England either all things considered.
As far as other injuries are concerned, the Colts injury report on Friday reads as follows:
Jerrell Freeman (groin): Questionable
Nate Irving (knee): Questionable
Andrew Luck (shoulder): Questionable
Trent Cole (back): Probable
T.Y. Hilton (groin): Probable
Bjoern Werner (hamstring): Probable
Billy Winn (eye): Probable
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