Andrew Luck appears limited in practice for second straight day

For the second straight day, Colts quarterback Andrew Luck appeared limited during the portion of practice open to the media.  The Colts confirmed on Wednesday that Luck was limited and is dealing with an injury to his throwing shoulder, and it again appeared as if Luck was limited on Thursday.

FOX59's Mike Chappell wrote this after attending that open portion of practice:

The Indianapolis Colts' three-time Pro Bowl quarterback, who suffered an unspecified injury to his right shoulder, did no throwing during the early portion of Thursday's practice which is open to the media. Luck was limited to handoffs while backup Matt Hasselbeck and Alex Tanney, who recently was signed to the practice squad, shared throwing duties.

Head coach Chuck Pagano described Luck as "day to day" during his press conference yesterday, and he won't address the media again until Friday.  Both Pagano and Luck, however, expect that number 12 will be out there when the Colts host the Jaguars this Sunday.  Pagano said that he has "supreme confidence that he'll play," while Luck said that, "I fully expect to be out there."

Still, for a player who hasn't appeared on the injury report since his rookie season in 2012 and hasn't missed even a single snap (much less a game) due to injury in his NFL career, this is noteworthy.  Plus, the reality is that there are few people in the NFL who are more crucial to his team's success than Luck is to the Colts, as he has had to carry them at many points over the past few years.

That's why the Luck watch is going on this week as he deals with an injury, because the Colts need him to be healthy.  They host the Jaguars this Sunday and then go on the road on a short week to take on the Texans on Thursday Night Football - playing two games in five days.  The Colts then get a longer break before hosting the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football in week six.  Playing two division games in five days and then having one of the best teams in the NFL come to town for a very hyped matchup isn't ideal when the star quarterback is injured.

It still would be a complete shock to see Luck miss this Sunday's game, but perhaps the better question would be how much of an impact will it have on him when on the field?  Matt Hasselbeck, Luck's backup quarterback, joked yesterday that the coaches have tried to get Luck to take a day off before but that he wouldn't let them.  So this isn't a guy who just wants to sit out, so being limited two days in a row must mean that it's ailing him enough to where he knows it's best to rest his shoulder.  That's definitely something to keep an eye on.