Colts GM Issues Statement on Andrew Luck Rib Injury
By Evan Reller
Earlier today, a report surfaced about Andrew Luck fighting through multiple fractured ribs suffered in Week 3. This injury has yet to appear on the Colts weekly injury report and was first mentioned today when Fox’s Jay Glazer made the announcement on the pregame show.
General manager Ryan Grigson issued a statement on the injury:
Grigson: "Our injury reports are accurate. If people have any questions about player injuries, they should refer to our injury reports.”
— Bob Kravitz (@bkravitz) November 1, 2015
That sounds like a pretty firm denial from the team’s GM on Luck’s injury status. A few things could be at play here. One, the Colts don’t want to tip anyone off about an area of weakness on their quarterback. Opposing defenders might risk a late hit penalty just to take a shot at Luck’s ribs. Two, Luck might not in-fact be facing any sort of injury and is indeed healthy (or at least not suffering a rib injury).
After the most recent loss, coaches and players were asked about Luck’s struggles and could not offer up an explanation. This would have been a great moment to blame his struggles on the rib injury, even if it seems like a cop out. Everyone asked was adamant that Luck (or at least his shoulder) was fine and healthy.
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Luck has not been playing well this season and an injury like this would go a long way to explaining his poor play from a physical standpoint. What it wouldn’t explain is his tenancy to not progress through his reads or come off his primary receiver as well as staring down his targets. Those issues point to something more along the lines of a mental issue (which an injury might affect to an extent).
Luck did miss two games this season with a shoulder injury, but has played the past two weeks and wasn’t listed on this week’s injury report. The NFL is planning to investigate the Colts for an improper report. League policy is that team’s must list any player with a “significant or noteworthy injury” and it applies to everyone on the roster. It does not matter what the players status for the next game is either, which is why you see players listed for “rest” on the official reports each week. The Colts could be fined or lose draft picks if the NFL finds they didn’t report the injury.
We’ll keep you updated on this story.