Andrew Luck blames himself for injuries

Andrew Luck is out for the foreseeable future with a lacerated kidney, and he knows that he is at fault for these injuries.

After a rough start to the season, followed by a right shoulder injury that sidelined him for two weeks, Andrew Luck was finally starting to look like a quality quarterback once again. He’d just led the Colts over the previously undefeated Broncos and didn’t turn the ball over.

Then the next day he felt pain in his back and an exam revealed that he had a torn abdominal and lacerated kidney. Luck would be sidelined for 2-6 weeks with this latest injury.

The next day the internet exploded with hot takes.

“GM Ryan Grigson isn’t protecting Luck!”

“The play calling puts Luck in harm’s way!”

“Luck isn’t protecting himself, learn to slide!”

In truth, each and everyone of those statements is partly true. There was plenty of blame to go around.

Today Luck spoke with reporters, his first interview since the injuries (quotes via Zak Keefer’s IndyStar piece). Not surprisingly Luck, the man who always puts the team failures on his shoulders, blamed himself for his most recent injury.

"“Part of it I brought upon myself by not sliding in certain situations,” the Colts franchise quarterback said Wednesday, speaking to reporters for the first time since his injury was announced 15 days ago. “There’s a time and place for taking a hit. I’m not going to apologize in that sense because sometimes it is appropriate. But sliding is something I need to improve on, we’ve talked about that before. It’s no secret.”"

Luck isn’t able to do anything physical, but he is confident that he’ll be back before the end of the season. If the projected time out goes the distance, that would mean Luck would return in time for the Colts trip to face the Miami Dolphins on December 27.

"“Some different challenges have presented themselves this year,” he said. “I know I wasn’t playing very good football to start the season off. Now I have to deal with injuries. Shoot, that’s sports. That’s football. No one feels sorry for you. Keep plugging away. (We’re) sitting at 5-5 with a chance to do what we want to do. It’s sort of like a playoff game each week. That’s the mentality.”"

There were some that speculated that Luck was put on the field with a preexisting injury, which is simply ludicrous. Luck knew something was wrong when he took the hit, but was able to finish out the game.

"“I felt something,” he said. “But you feel something a lot of times when you’re playing football. Adrenaline’s a very powerful thing.”"

While Luck hasn’t played his best football this season, he still gives the Colts the best chance to win and make noise in the playoffs should they get there. The question will be if those final two games will be enough time for Luck to return to form before the postseason kicks off.