INDIANAPOLIS – In his rookie season, Andrew Luck's time participating in OTAs was limited due to school work.
In his second year, it was a new offensive system (to everyone but Luck and the Stanford guys) being installed.
As Luck stood in front of his locker on Wednesday afternoon, the comfort for the 2014 offseason was evident even with fielding questions from every direction.
Sure, Luck knows that the 2013 season didn't end the way he had planned but after a pair of 11-5 seasons, the foundation is set with some key returnees at his disposal.
"There's a lot of good football players on the offensive side of the ball in this locker room and it will be very exciting to get on the field with them and see the best way to distribute the ball," Luck said on Wednesday.
No. 12 is back from traveling to nine countries (his favorite trip was to Stockholm, Sweden) and ready to get to work.
Ryan Grigson has provided Luck a new toy to work with in two-time 1,000-yard receiver Hakeem Nicks.
With the Colts offseason program kicking off, Luck says he has picked Nicks brain about how he likes deep balls and has spent some time throwing to the five-year veteran.
"It's very good to get the rhythm, get the consistency down, get the timing down because I've learned, playing two years, that timing is everything in this league," Luck says.
"It is so important and when you feel it, you feel the rapport. When T.Y. (Hilton) came on at the end of the year, like it is with Reggie (Wayne), it makes things just feel a little more simple."
Colts fans will be very anxious to see the days when Luck is once again throwing passes to Wayne.
Coming back from an ACL injury at the age of 35 is no easy task but Luck has an interesting take on Wayne's rehab.
"I think Reggie Wayne is an exception to a lot of rules," Luck says. "Obviously, I'm no doctor or physical therapist but just for him to be on the field with us, watching us do drills, jump in every now and then and see him around the building, he looks good. We expect him back better than ever.
"We know he's going to come back and produce at a very high level and we're all very excited about it."
One thing that was missing in the background of Luck's Wednesday media session was a person occupying the locker to the right of the quarterback.
Samson Satele is no longer the Colts center and who will be snapping the ball to Luck in 2014 has become a hot topic.
"We obviously don't have that great of an amount of reps so it will be very important during this workout OTA season to get all those reps with Khaled (Holmes) and whoever else is going to be snapping the ball," Luck said.
"The last thing you want is to be thinking about the snap when you're under center. You create that comfort at this time of the year, in training camp, and in mini-camp. So I don't see it being a problem at all."
For Luck, that's exactly what the next nine weeks is all about.
There's no distractions of finishing up a degree, or helping install a new playbook, this time around.
"They're huge, especially when talking about timing and talking about rhythm, consistency and building that with the receivers, talking about the centers, starting to re-build that identity of the offense, who we are," Luck said of the offseason program.
"You see how many guys are here in the locker room right now trying to get better. We realize we have these days. They're a limited amount. Let's get the most out of them."
