Chris Ballard: Andrew Luck Will Return to Practice on Gradual Basis

OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 24: Andrew Luck
OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 24: Andrew Luck

After several false alarms, it looks like Colts fans finally have a reason to believe that Andrew Luck is close to coming back.

It was a little over a week ago when reports surfaced that Andrew Luck would potentially return to practice along with speculation that he could return for the Colts’ Week 7 matchup with the Jaguars.

Head coach Chuck Pagano then revealed that Luck could not yet return to practice, and Colts fans were left hanging yet again.

Luck must’ve made some progress over the last week as CBS 4’s Mike Chappell got a confirmation from general manager Chris Ballard that he will gradually return to practice starting Wednesday.

"“We’ll slowly start working him back into practice this week,” Ballard told Mike Chappell. “We’ll see how much he gets. But we’ve got a plan in place to where we want him to start getting him reps and then, in time as we can get him incorporated back into team work and all that, we’ll get him back on the field.”"

The Colts’ brass has said very encouraging things about Andrew Luck‘s progress over the last month or so, but that hasn’t resulted in him taking any steps towards getting on the field that the public is allowed to see.

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Luck has had a long road to recovery from this shoulder surgery that occurred directly after last season in January. He’s been on the “wait and see” plan since July, and predictions for his return have ranged from Week 1 of the regular season to Week 1 of the 2018 season.

Jacoby Brissett has performed admirably in Luck’s stead, but the Colts are not in contention for any sort of postseason contention with their Pro Bowl quarterback on the bench.

Chris Ballard’s words are encouraging, but Colts fans will be holding their breath until they see Luck running out of the tunnel at Lucas Oil Stadium wearing that number 12 jersey.

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