INDIANAPOLIS – For the majority of Sunday night, any questioning of Andrew Luck's right shoulder was an afterthought watching No. 12 operate.
Luck delivered throws throughout his passing tree against a New England defense that had given him fits in previous meetings.
Playing for the first time in 21 days on Sunday night, Luck finished the evening 30-of-50 for 312 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
His passer rating of 98.1 was by far the highest he's had in four games this season.
"He's Andrew, he can do incredible things," Donte Moncrief said after the game.
"He can make incredible things happen so I knew when he got on the field what was going to happen. He was going to make great plays and good decisions."
From the outset on Sunday, there were zero signs of rust for Luck.
He led the Colts on a 13-play touchdown drive to start the game, completing 8-of-9 passes in helping Indianapolis jump out to an early seven-point lead.
It was an impressive first half of football from Luck.
The Colts 21-20 lead at halftime came behind Luck connecting on 17 of his 22 attempts for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
Of course, as you would expect after the game, Luck was a harsh grader despite several weeks away from the field.
"I think you get right back in the rhythm, practiced all week and get right back in the rhythm," Luck, who put up his 20th career 300-yard game on Sunday, said of getting back into the flow.
"By no means was I perfect. I missed some throws that I need to hit. That has nothing to do with my well-being or health. That's stuff I've got to cleanup."
Luck would certainly point to the second half as an area where the Colts misfired on potential opportunities.
The offense struggled coming out of halftime in sustaining drives, eventually catching up with them early in the fourth quarter.
Coming into Sunday night, Luck heard all week about his inability to protect the football in previous meetings with New England (10 interceptions in four prior matchups).
Individually, things were different this time around with Luck still left wanting more following the 34-27 loss.
"Every loss is hard. Every loss stinks," Luck said in the early hours of Monday morning.
"It's Week Six. Moving on to next weekend, we have to. As a team, we've got to pick ourselves back up and go get a win. Find a way to go get a win."
