WESTFIELD, Ind. — Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich announced Tuesday that quarterback Andrew Luck will miss some training camp practices this week as he continues to deal with a nagging calf strain.
Luck will also sit out the team's first preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Aug. 8, Reich said.
Talking to reporters after Tuesday's practice, Luck said he "did not improve feeling-wise, pain-wise" after being a limited participant in three of the team's first four camp practices.
"I like to view it (as) 'not where I want to be,'" Luck said. "I know I did not improve with the past three practices — sort of that last tranche of practices — and I think I thought, 'Hey, we've gotta go back, go back to some more simpler things with less variables,' if you will."
Luck aggravated the injury during the offseason, and he did not participate in the on-field portion of OTAs or minicamp.
While he hoped he'd be good to go to be a full participant when training camp practices began last week, Luck said he learned from his previous shoulder injury, which forced him to sit out the entire 2017 season, that "your body doesn't care about a date on a calendar."
As he worked through positional drills and 7-on-7 work on Sunday, Luck said there were moments where he felt, "'Ooh, I feel like something going to yank, something's going to pull," he said.
"Trying to change direction aggressively, and that's something that you need to do to play football, and I'm not there yet," he said.
"It's a calf strain," Luck continued. "And we're on our feet a lot, and I know to be the best quarterback I want to be, to help this team like I wanna help them, I'm not looking for average. If I'm going out here with pain, I'll be average. I will feel like an average quarterback and I will be an average quarterback. That's not good enough for me, that's not good enough for this club."
For now, Luck is utilizing walkthroughs as his daily "practice," where he's throwing from more of a stationary position. Reich said the team will re-evaluate the quarterback's progress after Thursday's practice.
