INDIANAPOLIS – The red practice jerseys with white numbers read as: 8, 6, and, finally, 3.
Those numbers represented the three healthy quarterbacks on the Colts roster Monday.
Noticeably, Andrew Luck was nowhere to be found.
Luck would eventually make it out to Monday's practice (helping new No. 6 Charlie Whitehurst learn the system), but No. 12 wasn't participating in an NFL practice for the first time in his career.
For now, the mental aspect of Luck is what the Colts will lean on from their franchise quarterback.
"Docs and trainers obviously are monitoring (Luck) very closely every day," Chuck Pagano said on Monday.
"He's here progressing well. We'll have more information on Wednesday (on) how he's doing and that stuff, but it's not like he's bedridden or anything like that."
The timetable for Luck's full recovery is a wide-ranging one (two-to-six weeks) with such a unique injury making it difficult to pinpoint a more specific return date.
Physical activity is currently on the back burner.
"As we take this thing day-to-day, week-to-week, whatever it is, (Luck's) going to see the docs and they'll communicate with him, he'll communicate with them, they'll communicate with us," Pagano said of the three-time Pro Bowler.
"Then, as he starts to heal and heal more, I'm sure then they'll get him back out there and do whatever he can from a conditioning standpoint."
An area of Luck's game that will continually be discussed, even with him sidelined, is his mentality once he escapes the pocket.
Luck plays a finesse position with the mentality of an imposing defender, so when it comes time to be hit in the open field Luck is often the one handing out the blow.
"We're going to talk every day until he figures it out and we figure it out as a team, because he knows full well that he can't do that and he can't put himself, or this team, in jeopardy by doing that," Pagano said of Luck taking far too many hits.
"You love the grit, you love the toughness and all that stuff. Playing the position like a linebacker, you can't. That's his mentality, that's how he is. There are some great plays that are made and some first downs that are made. But we'll continue to obviously stress that. Availability is huge, especially at that position."
Before those discussions lead into (perhaps) different decision-making, on those sorts of plays, Luck will still be counted on by the man taking his place.
The Colts need Matt Hasselbeck, and Hasselbeck says he certainly still needs Andrew Luck.
"I told Andrew I'm going to rely on him heavily," Hasselbeck said on Monday. "We don't win the Jacksonville or the Houston game without his help. He was incredibly helpful.
"I pleaded with him, sort of begged him, 'Hey, even though you're hurt and you're not with us, I need you to be with us.' He said, 'Absolutely.' I anticipate that he'll be very helpful (and) my goal is really just to kind of hold the fort down until he gets back."
