Andrew Luck Won’t Play “A Lot” in Pre-Season Opener vs. Buffalo

Jul 30, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) throws a pass during training camp at Anderson University. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Luck has been one of the great developments of Colts camp in 2013, really showing great strides from where he finished his rookie season in 2012.

Luck is taking command of the offense, and he said on Tuesday that he’d “love to play a lot,’’ against the Buffalo Bills in the team’s pre-season opener on Sunday. Colts head coach Chuck Pagano has other plans for him.

“No. I’m sure someday he’ll be calling all the shots around here, but going into his second year we still have some control over his play time. We’ll be smart about that.’’

The Colts obviously aren’t going to take any chances with Luck, who is undoubtedly the most critical player to their success this season. Just how good is Luck looking at camp? Well in team drills, he’s 194-of-284 (68.3 percent), 13 TDs and just four interceptions.

Luck is building great chemistry with his receivers, especially four players. Reggie Wayne, T.Y. Hilton, Coby Fleener, and Dwayne Allen are all earning excellent marks for their training camp performances, especially Fleener. The second year tight end, by all accounts, is ready to break out and prove to the NFL why the Colts used such a high draft choice on him.

The Colts have an experienced backup in Matthew Hasselbeck, so you have to figure that a majority of the pre-season action is going to go to Chandler Harnish and the younger players. The Colts know what they have in Luck and Hasselbeck, but the veteran Hasselbeck could see more reps to due to the fact that he is brand new to the Colts.

Either way, we won’t be seeing ‘a lot’ of Andrew Luck, and that’s okay. Luck doesn’t really have much to prove and as long as he is healthy going into the regular season, you can consider it a successful pre-sesaon for him.