Colts Want Luck to Take Better Care of the Football

One constant criticism of Andrew Luck during his career has been his high interception numbers. The Colts’ coaching staff is looking to change that in 2017.

Andrew Luck has compiled double-digit interception totals in four of his five NFL seasons, and that includes a year where he only played in seven games.

Luck loves to show off his arm strength and take chances down the field, but those passes have come at a cost.

The Colts haven’t fielded a good enough defense to withstand Luck’s turnover issues during his time in Indianapolis. While they’re acquiring some talent on that side of the ball, the offense can’t afford to give their opponents any extra possessions.

Mike Wells of ESPN talked to quarterbacks coach Brian Schottenheimer during offseason workouts about Indianapolis’ plan to cut down on those interception numbers this season.

“We say this all the time, ‘Andrew should not be a double-digit interception guy.’ Like that’s the phrase that we use. He’s just too good of a player. So again, if he can eliminate some of those decision interceptions — I think there are five or six of them — those numbers drop significantly. You’re going to throw interceptions. It just happens.”

The Colts will be able to live with some of those deep shots on third and long that effectively work out like punts, but Luck’s decision-making could still use some improvement.

“If we can eliminate [decision interceptions], that’ll obviously help him drop down,” Schottenheimer said. “That’s kind of the number we’ve been using. He should throw seven, eight, something like that.”

Luck’s career-low interception total was 9 in 2013, but he also had his second-lowest yards per attempt average that season as well. If Luck and Brian Schottenheimer can find a perfect balance of his gunslinging attitude while making smart decisions, they might unlock an even higher level of performance in 2017.