Luck believes he'll be ready for Week 1 amid calf injury
The Indianapolis Colts were set to enter the season as one of the NFL's most-hyped teams, but Andrew Luck's lingering calf injury continues to weigh on the expected Super Bowl contender.
The quarterback's injury first surfaced in April, and he'll miss another week of camp and the Colts' opening preseason game on Thursday while recovering.
However, Luck remains confident he'll be under center when Indianapolis opens the regular season on Sept. 8 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
"No," Luck told Peter King of NBC Sports when asked if he's worried about not being ready for Week 1. "I certainly believe I will (be ready). That's certainly the goal."
The Colts have said they're being careful with Luck's injury, and the team is even citing Kevin Durant's NBA FInals injury as a cautionary tale. That approach comes after Luck missed the 2017 campaign due to a persistent shoulder issue.
The signal-caller, who turns 30 years old in September, said the three-month wait for his calf to heal has been taxing.
"At times I do worry about it," Luck said. "It can be frustrating. The arc of an injury, whether it's a big surgical one or something you're rehabbing through."
"... Maybe I'm not improving as fast as I want and missing things is no fun. It eats at you. But I do know at the end of the day if I'm getting the most out of myself, if I'm being the best I can that day, then that's what I need to do."
Luck has undergone three MRIs on his calf, and only a strain has been revealed, according to King.
Head coach Frank Reich is relying on the four-time Pro Bowler to know when he's ready to return.
"As a former player and as a coach, it's just always my instinct to trust the player," Reich said. "I really don't lay awake at night thinking about it. When our players have injuries, I'm not the guy who's asking every five minutes how they're doing. That's just the way I am."
The Colts retained an insurance policy for Luck in Jacoby Brissett, the backup who performed solidly during the starter's absence two years ago and has received praise from the club's coaching staff while running the first-team offense during training camp.