INDIANAPOLIS – Andrew Luck did make it seem like he was back riding a bike on Saturday night.
Playing in his first game action since last November, Luck had a perfect night throwing the ball and was not sacked or hit in 19 snaps.
Luck was 8-of-8 for 71 yards, leading the Colts on two drives into the Baltimore red zone.
The first drive ended with an Adam Vinatieri field goal. A Dwayne Allen fumble ended the second drive.
That was it for Luck's night.
"It felt like a long time, (so) it was good to be out there," Luck said after Saturday night's preseason home opener. "It was a lot of fun."
You still get nervous and the butterflies sitting in the chair and you can't help but get excited for it. It's a chance to wear a Colt's uniform and go against another team. Those don't come that often. So it was exciting and it was fun."
In preseason action on Saturday, we saw Luck show signs of improvement in some specific areas.
The offensive line allowed No. 12 to go through his progressions, often finding guys on crossing routes.
Luck showed off those wheels (two scrambles for 12 yards), and earned some cheers from the fans with a pair of slides.
"Every year you go back and say, 'Were can I get better?' And obviously I needed to get better at making sure I'm in the game so I'll try and make sure I'm sliding at the right times," Luck said.
The quarterback also made sure to point out the play of the guys protecting him on Saturday.
"A fantastic job," Luck offered. "Running the ball, I don't know what we averaged but I think it was a pretty good clip to start off and that helps the pass protection and the tempo with which they go with the speed and the execution. They did a heck of a job, they played their butts off."
After around a quarter of action for Luck and the starters on Saturday, the expectation is to have those guys play into the third quarter in Week Three of the preseason (Saturday, Aug. 27 vs. Philadelphia).
The Eagles will be seeing a different Luck from the guy who opened up the preseason last year.
"Since (Luck) came back, through the OTA's and what he did on the break and then from the start of training camp, he has just been outstanding," Chuck Pagano said after watching Luck go 8-for-8. "He has been a different guy. Different from a leadership standpoint. Different from how he carries himself day in and day out throughout the building. In practice, he is very demanding of himself and he is making everybody around him better.
"It was obviously great to see it and I am not surprised by anything that he does. The greatest thing was he took off and he got his (butt) on the ground when he was supposed to get on the ground."
