Andrew Luck resumes throwing regular NFL footballs

[Valhalla]

I really was more discouraged than encouraged after digging into this. The press conference, IMO had way too many hints dropped by Luck about the likelihood of a permanent partial limitation. He, of course, did not say this. He said the opposite, that he “fully believes” that if he just works hard enough and believes in himself enough, and is careful enough with his shoulder, he can “do anything.” But...of COURSE he is going to say that! He is RAKING a huge contract, AND he loves football. Most humans, if collecting a huge salary to potentially do something fun, are NOT going to jeopardize that by speaking to their potential limitations of handling the job. They will milk that position and even lie to themselves about their qualifications/capabilities. Even if Luck had 7/10 pain in his shoulder and felt a familiar twinge starting up and gradually worsening with each subsequent short pass, he’s going to lie to himself about it just being a little sore, and he’s also going to milk that contract. Human nature.

He made the classic analogy of our body not being a machine you can just put a new part in. That’s the common analogy a doctor will use when telling a patient about an unfortunate reality of not being able to undo a degenerative condition.

He talked about how the shoulder felt following what (from what I gathered) were very short throws. His shoulder was “sore, but not painful like last year.” He also, I believe, stressed the words “not right now” while talking about the pain, which suggests to me that he isn’t fully confident in the pain staying away. Maybe it will get gradually more and more sore with passing, rather than less and less, and eventually that pain WILL return.

He talked about having to keep himself on somewhat of a pitch count...also suggesting a possible known underlying degenerative limitation that can only be pushed so far.

All speculation, of course...but I didn’t come away with positive vibes. I came away with: “sure seems like you’re trying to re-assure yourself of something others have cast doubt on, Luck” vibes.

[FantasyFreak]

Why are some people acting as if we know Luck is his old self, and everything is now all good? I really hope the best for Luck, but he was always going to try throwing again. We're not going to know the deal until about 8 games into the year, IMO. There will be a body of work (if he plays, of course) where we can see what he looks like, compared to his old sense with enough time to shake some rust off and not have any set backs.

[lukkynumber13]

Why are some people acting as if we know Luck is his old self, and everything is now all good? I really hope the best for Luck, but he was always going to try throwing again. We're not going to know the deal until about 8 games into the year, IMO. There will be a body of work (if he plays, of course) where we can see what he looks like, compared to his old sense with enough time to shake some rust off and not have any set backs.

If you don't think we are gonna win the super bowl this year, on the back of Luck throwing for 6200 yards and 59 TDs, you're an ignorant hater!!!

[Valhalla]

Why are some people acting as if we know Luck is his old self, and everything is now all good? I really hope the best for Luck, but he was always going to try throwing again. We're not going to know the deal until about 8 games into the year, IMO. There will be a body of work (if he plays, of course) where we can see what he looks like, compared to his old sense with enough time to shake some rust off and not have any set backs.

If you don't think we are gonna win the super bowl this year, on the back of Luck throwing for 6200 yards and 59 TDs, you're an ignorant hater!!!

You forgot all those rushing yards

[FantasyFreak]

Why are some people acting as if we know Luck is his old self, and everything is now all good? I really hope the best for Luck, but he was always going to try throwing again. We're not going to know the deal until about 8 games into the year, IMO. There will be a body of work (if he plays, of course) where we can see what he looks like, compared to his old sense with enough time to shake some rust off and not have any set backs.

If you don't think we are gonna win the super bowl this year, on the back of Luck throwing for 6200 yards and 59 TDs, you're an ignorant hater!!!

LOL. I truly hope Luck comes back and has a long and successful career. Hoping for the best, he's a standup dude.

[thebeast]

Just wow

[Rosenbluu]

Seems like a good time to sell before the season comes around

[FantasyFreak]

Why hasn't anybody mentioned he was throwing the ball with his left hand?

[DLF3000]

It's a mixed bag of news for sure.

But any morsel of positivity is good here, considering the severity of that injury and the insane amount of time he's missed doing... anything.

Look forward to training camp to see where he is then.

There's no question this team is just another dumpster fire without Luck, so hopefully he actually plays and plays well this year.

[Johnny Canuck]

I really was more discouraged than encouraged after digging into this. The press conference, IMO had way too many hints dropped by Luck about the likelihood of a permanent partial limitation. He, of course, did not say this. He said the opposite, that he “fully believes” that if he just works hard enough and believes in himself enough, and is careful enough with his shoulder, he can “do anything.” But...of COURSE he is going to say that! He is RAKING a huge contract, AND he loves football. Most humans, if collecting a huge salary to potentially do something fun, are NOT going to jeopardize that by speaking to their potential limitations of handling the job. They will milk that position and even lie to themselves about their qualifications/capabilities. Even if Luck had 7/10 pain in his shoulder and felt a familiar twinge starting up and gradually worsening with each subsequent short pass, he’s going to lie to himself about it just being a little sore, and he’s also going to milk that contract. Human nature.

He made the classic analogy of our body not being a machine you can just put a new part in. That’s the common analogy a doctor will use when telling a patient about an unfortunate reality of not being able to undo a degenerative condition.

He talked about how the shoulder felt following what (from what I gathered) were very short throws. His shoulder was “sore, but not painful like last year.” He also, I believe, stressed the words “not right now” while talking about the pain, which suggests to me that he isn’t fully confident in the pain staying away. Maybe it will get gradually more and more sore with passing, rather than less and less, and eventually that pain WILL return.

He talked about having to keep himself on somewhat of a pitch count...also suggesting a possible known underlying degenerative limitation that can only be pushed so far.

All speculation, of course...but I didn’t come away with positive vibes. I came away with: “sure seems like you’re trying to re-assure yourself of something others have cast doubt on, Luck” vibes.

I appreciate the viewpoint, even if I don't agree with it. You're a good poster on here, so I def considered your views while I watched, to see if there was something I was missing.

I watched the interview multiple times to make sure I wasn't viewing it through rose colored glasses, but I didn't necessarily come away with the same vibe. It seems that you're, siding on the conservative/pessimistic side of his recovery/return to the NFL. That's perfectly understandable considering the entire "He's going to play in week 1" from Irsay last season.

That said, you're making a lot of diagnostic medical assumptions, off very little substance. It was one interview, and we don't even know the full history of the injury/rehabilitation. Either way, in that interview I didn't get the impression of a "permanent partial limitation...an unfortunate reality of not being able to undo a degenerative condition...pain WILL return...[or an] underlying degenerative limitation that can only be pushed so far."

If anything Luck seems positive/optimistic about his rehabilitation, and progress he was making. He was very conservative in his answers, but who wouldn't be in his position. He's not going to say, I'm perfect and feeling great, and my shoulder will never bother me again, that would just set himself up for failure. After this entire injury debacle, I guarantee he's been coached up a bit on what to say regarding rehab, and to take the conservative side of things...which he's been doing in every other interview this yr. Why would he change that now? He's just doing the typical under promise and over deliver type of interview.

Here's the interview if anyone hasn't seen it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsqohzSDaEU

[Jason3123]

Why hasn't anybody mentioned he was throwing the ball with his left hand?

What?

[Valhalla]

I read it was about 12 short passes...
For the soreness to be setting in, I would have liked to see that number of short passes closer to 35-40...

I hope he's back and truly back to his old form. I hope this is all behind him and he continues to develop, lowering his turnover numbers and keeping the turnovers further downfield. I hope we get to see the potential guy many of us thought was coming. I thought he was the next Manning...only mobile.

I have almost no doubt that he will be starting for the Colts week 1. I just have a lot of doubt that his shoulder can hold up to the throwing demands of an NFL QB...a QB that is in a position in which he will have to throw a high amount of passes, likely under heavy pressure...throwing at awkward angles as he's occasionally being dragged to the ground. I have no insider medical information on the state of his shoulder, but I'm not going to have blind faith that it's fully rehabbed and good to go.

I listen to a lot of podcasts and read a lot of articles, and one common argument out there revolving around Luck's shoulder is that of COURSE he is on track to be fine and people are just being absurd, for two reasons:

Argument 1. Why make him throw more than he needs to? Why rush anything? He's probably been fine for months but they might as well play it as carefully as they can.

--My retort: Why are all these other QBs in the NFL throwing passes right now, if throwing isn't all that important and the teams can be careful with them? Why do WRs and QBs get together in the offseason, if this chemistry thing isn't highly important and worth investing time into? Why, when you talk to a throwing coach, will they often tell you that consistent practice on form is important? The fact that Luck has been kept from throwing, and is still being heavily limited on the amount of and degree of passes he throws, HEAVILY IMPLIES that there is STILL a problem! The argument that he's likely been perfectly fine for months is pretty absurd...unless the Colts and Luck are just fine with avoiding that whole practice and chemistry thing. I mean...I guess Steph Curry should just take all offseason off of shooting a basketball because why exert the effort? Rest up and preserve the shot...right? Who needs to practice sports motions? It's either an absurd notion that he's likely fully rehabbed, or it's an absurd notion that there's no reason for him to be passing. It does NOT make sense to rest up for the season UNLESS there is an existing limitation.

Argument 2. We've come too far in rehabilitation and reconstructive surgeries to really hold an athlete back with proper rehab. He has access to the top sports rehabilitation minds, so he'll be fine in this day and age. We have too many examples of really bad injuries coming back with proper rehabilitation...like Bridgewater's knee, lots and lots of RB knees, Manning's neck, etc. It's ignorant to think the medical minds out there CAN'T fix Luck.

--My retort: The knee joint isn't exactly a hinge joint, but it's close. It's a fairly straight-forward, biomechanically simple joint to rehabilitate...because the mechanics of the joint aren't complex. The neck, although very complex in motion, can still retain most of its proper function even with fusing a couple of the lower cervical segments together. The problem area can be addressed (cleaned up and fused) and adequate function can still be maintained due to many other segments providing mobility. The shoulder, in many people's opinions, is the most complex and potentially most unstable joint in the body. I'm not going to dive into the biomechanics of the shoulder, because this post could be pages long by the time I was done, but it's far more complex to rehabilitate a shoulder, and sometimes you just can't undo enough damage and a sizable partial limitation can remain. Will this happen with Luck? Anyone outside of his rehabilitation team (nearly everyone) can't really know. So to say that, since a bad injury like Bridgewater's knee can be rehabbed, of COURSE Luck's shoulder will be fine...it's just uninformed.

His shoulder might be fine, and I hope it is, but I just wanted to point out the errors (in my opinion, anyways) in some of the common thoughts I'm hearing out there.

[Valhalla]

I appreciate the viewpoint, even if I don't agree with it. You're a good poster on here, so I def considered your views while I watched, to see if there was something I was missing.

I watched the interview multiple times to make sure I wasn't viewing it through rose colored glasses, but I didn't necessarily come away with the same vibe. It seems that you're, siding on the conservative/pessimistic side of his recovery/return to the NFL. That's perfectly understandable considering the entire "He's going to play in week 1" from Irsay last season.

That said, you're making a lot of diagnostic medical assumptions, off very little substance. It was one interview, and we don't even know the full history of the injury/rehabilitation. Either way, in that interview I didn't get the impression of a "permanent partial limitation...an unfortunate reality of not being able to undo a degenerative condition...pain WILL return...[or an] underlying degenerative limitation that can only be pushed so far."

If anything Luck seems positive/optimistic about his rehabilitation, and progress he was making. He was very conservative in his answers, but who wouldn't be in his position. He's not going to say, I'm perfect and feeling great, and my shoulder will never bother me again, that would just set himself up for failure. After this entire injury debacle, I guarantee he's been coached up a bit on what to say regarding rehab, and to take the conservative side of things...which he's been doing in every other interview this yr. Why would he change that now? He's just doing the typical under promise and over deliver type of interview.

Here's the interview if anyone hasn't seen it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsqohzSDaEU

You're right. I realize I'm taking things in a more negative light than most will, and maybe more negative than I should. I AM playing it conservative I suppose. Maybe I should take a lesson from Luck and be more hopeful. He does, after all, likely have nearly non-stop access to shoulder experts, and he can get worked on after every game if he needs to. So maybe he'll be fine even if a limitation does exist.

[Johnny Canuck]

You're right. I realize I'm taking things in a more negative light than most will, and maybe more negative than I should. I AM playing it conservative I suppose. Maybe I should take a lesson from Luck and be more hopeful. He does, after all, likely have nearly non-stop access to shoulder experts, and he can get worked on after every game if he needs to. So maybe he'll be fine even if a limitation does exist.

Don't forget about all those sweet sweet cortisone shots lol.

[Valhalla]

You're right. I realize I'm taking things in a more negative light than most will, and maybe more negative than I should. I AM playing it conservative I suppose. Maybe I should take a lesson from Luck and be more hopeful. He does, after all, likely have nearly non-stop access to shoulder experts, and he can get worked on after every game if he needs to. So maybe he'll be fine even if a limitation does exist.

Don't forget about all those sweet sweet cortisone shots lol.

True