Colts' Reich: Andrew Luck 'real close' to throwing NFL football
Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich thinks he'll finally be able to work with Andrew Luck on the field soon.
"I think we're real close (to throwing an actual NFL football)," Reich said on Thursday, according to Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star.
When exactly Luck's preparations for 2018 begin without limitations is up to him, Reich added.
Luck missed the 2017 season due to setbacks in his recovery from shoulder surgery. The rehabilitation process remains gradual, and the Colts are being cautious. Reich was hopeful Luck would be able to throw during organized team activities in late April, but that didn't happen.
"Again, I've never been through what he's been through," he told Keefer. "I could sit here and say what I think but it's gotta come from down in here (points to his heart).
"There's an instinct as a player, that you know when you're ready to go, and you keep testing it and testing it, and you work with the people you're working (with), and you trust your instinct when you're ready to go."
Reich said in late March that Luck had resumed throwing footballs. Then the quarterback clarified a couple weeks later that he was throwing, but not with regulation-sized footballs.
General manager Chris Ballard has maintained the team is comfortable with Luck's recovery.