Colts GM: Andrew Luck going 'to prove a lot of people wrong'

ByMIKE WELLS
February 16, 2018, 10:49 AM

— -- INDIANAPOLIS -- Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who has not thrown a football in more than three months, will not need a second procedure on his right shoulder, general manager Chris Ballard said Wednesday.

"He doesn't need surgery, I have not gotten that from the two doctors that he's seen after the season," Ballard said. "His strength is good. He's working on his throwing motion and he's working on his arm speed right now. He has not picked up a football, but he's throwing balls, working on arm speed. He's not going to skip a step.

"He's going to do everything right to get himself ready to play. I'm very confident -- he's very confident -- that he's going to come back and prove a lot of people wrong. I'm very proud of the kid. Wouldn't want anyone else on our team. We want our team to match what he has inside."

Luck's health will continue to be among the Colts' top offseason priorities, even though they're in the process of finding another head coach after Josh McDaniels decided to return to New England on Tuesday.

Luck, who missed all of last season after having surgery in January 2017, spent about six weeks in the Netherlands late last year rehabbing his shoulder after the Colts shut him down in the middle of October. Luck is currently working with throwing coaches in Southern California in his continued attempts to make his return for the 2018 season.

Luck, who originally injured his shoulder in Week 3 of the 2015 season, said in late December that he expects to take part in the Colts' offseason workouts during the first week of April.

The next step is getting Luck back to throwing a football before he can participate in the offseason workouts. He has missed 26 games over the past three seasons.

"I don't know with a shoulder [that] you can ever accurately assess where you're at," Ballard said. "It's a very subjective part of the body, and especially with a thrower. But I know what we're being told right now, and we're confident going forward."