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Luck perfecting slide to avoid big hits

Andy Lyons / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Andrew Luck is doing everything he can to avoid the kind of injuries that led to the first extended absence of his career last season.

Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano explains those efforts begin with being more careful about contact, which the quarterback has left himself susceptible to in the past.

"He's not going to take the egregious hits anymore," Pagano told Tom Pelissero of USA TODAY Sports on Friday. "He's sliding. He's perfecting that.

"Coming out of college, that was his deal: He had a linebacker mentality playing the quarterback spot, and it's kind of how he got himself going, like everybody got themselves going when they played. They get that first hit out of the way, and then they were fine. The butterflies were gone and then you're good. Playing that spot, you can't do that. He's learned a lot."

Keeping Luck healthy is the Colts' key to success this year and for the foreseeable future.

After three consecutive 11-5 seasons with Luck under center - each of which ended with the club advancing one game further in the playoffs - the star signal-caller missed all but seven games last season, a leading factor in the team's disappointing 8-8 finish.

Luck staying in the lineup this year would give the Colts their best opportunity to overcome other concerns throughout the roster and compete for a playoff spot again.

He put together the most productive season of his career in 2014, completing 61.7 percent of his passes for 4,761 yards, 40 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions.

That elite-level production was rewarded with a five-year, $122.9-million contract this offseason that now makes him the highest-paid player in NFL history.

- With h/t to Pro Football Talk

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