Luck is taking too many hits

— -- ESPN NFL Insider Mike Sando spent Sunday with ESPN NFL analyst Jon Gruden and the "Monday Night Football" crew in East Rutherford, New Jersey, site of the Indianapolis Colts- New York Giants matchup in Week 9 (ESPN, 8:15 p.m. ET). Sando files a few takeaways from Gruden regarding key storylines for these teams, in Gruden's voice.

1. I am seriously concerned for Andrew Luck's health.

Last week in the Colts' loss to Pittsburgh, Luck got hit on almost every pass. He got crushed. When your quarterback gets hit like that, you have to make some concessions, I think. You have to be really careful.

I know the Colts got into a throwing game after they got behind. You get into predictable situations, and that is tough. But the left tackle struggled, the right tackle struggled, the center struggled, the guards were not great. Dan Herron came in and missed a pickup.

Look, Luck is as good as they come and the Colts have a great scheme, but they have to block better for the quarterback and the running backs. They have to understand that Luck has to come out of here with a clean jersey. He is vulnerable standing in the pocket with the ball in his hands, and he is a quarterback who runs a fair amount as well. If you take those kinds of hits, it is inevitable that you will get sidelined with an injury someday. I worry about that with Luck.

2. Odell Beckham Jr. is going to be a special player for the Giants.

Beckham gives the Giants something they have never had before. When you think of the Giants' championship teams, you think of Stephen Baker the touchdown maker, maybe Mark Ingram Sr., Steve Smith, Plaxico Burress. They did not have a rocket ship like Beckham. He can fly. He can do all kinds of things: run routes, run well after the catch, even throw the ball. He is going to be a legitimate deep-ball problem for defenses.

3. The Giants' defensive players and coaches should be hoping for wind and rain.

I can remember coaching against John Elway, and you would sit there before the game hoping for bad weather. The Giants' defensive players and coaches are in that position this week.

Not only is Luck a terminator, but he is also surrounded by unique skill players. They have T.Y. Hilton, Reggie Wayne is back, Donte Moncrief is coming on, they have a dual threat out of the backfield (more on them next) and double trouble at tight end. Luck is relentless. He is attacking you every play. The Giants had better hope for wind and rain.

4. Ahmad Bradshaw is an outstanding player, and Trent Richardson is underappreciated.

Those backs for Indy, Richardson in particular, don't get a ton of credit, but they create a lot of their production on their own. They are versatile and are excellent receivers. They have combined for 50 catches. They each have over 350 yards rushing. They pick up blitzes. They can play in any formation. Their offensive line, to me, is the group that has to play better.

Bradshaw has great vision. We'll talk about him in more detail on the broadcast. With Richardson, a lot of people look at the stats and assume they tell the whole story, but they don't. This guy runs hard. He is big, he is fast, he makes yards out of nothing. When you give him a hole, he will make plenty of yardage. He is a good receiver and a punishing back. I hope his hamstring is OK.

5. Eli Manning's adjustment to new footwork has improved his game.

The proliferation of shotgun passing is one thing, but I think improving the rhythm of the quarterback in the gun is very much a hot topic among coaches. Mike McCarthy is on the forefront of the shotgun rhythm of the passer, and people have been copying Aaron Rodgers for a few years now. Giants offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo came over from Green Bay, and now Eli Manning is on board. It is a cool thing and also a much harder adjustment than someone on the outside might think.

Before this season, Manning always had his left foot back at the snap. Now he has the right foot back, which changes a lot of things. It's all about timing with the receivers. For instance, when you run a slant route in an old West Coast, Bill Walsh offense, the outside foot is back, it is a three-step break off your outside foot, and the ball is caught 9 to 10 yards deep. Well, what if you tell the receiver to put his outside foot up and run a four-step slant? Now the ball is caught deeper, so the timing is going to be different and you have to adjust by tinkering with the quarterback's feet.

Instead of running a 12-yard hook, maybe they are running a 14-yard hinge. When the primary receiver's depth is a specific increment, the feet of the quarterback sometimes changes, so now a three-step drop might become a four-step drop. A one-step drop might be a two-step drop because the feet are different. Rodgers has his right foot back. Tom Brady went to the right foot back. Tony Romo has the right foot back. Now it is Eli's turn.

All of a sudden your right foot is back, so your first maneuver is opposite of what it has been for your entire life. This is a guy in Eli Manning who has the Manning Passing Academy, and you are telling him to change his footwork? It is like telling Michael Jordan how to shoot a jump shot. "Hey, LeBron, let me tell you something, man." It is a pretty cool story that Manning has adjusted this well to it.