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The status of Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is still up in the air as the Colts get ready to play on the road on Thursday Night Football against the division rival Houston Texans, as the injury to his throwing shoulder kept him out of Sunday's ugly win over the Jacksonville Jaguars 16-13 in overtime.
According to the MMQB's Peter King, it is "no better than 50/50" that Luck plays this Thursday. But, while there's nothing definite yet, NFL Media's Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Colts expect Luck to be playing this week.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">On <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Colts?src=hash">#Colts</a> QB Andrew Luck, the plan is for him to be back under center on Thursday vs. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Texans?src=hash">#Texans</a>. Shoulder isn’t viewed as a long-term injury</p>— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/651027427829907457">October 5, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
"At this point that is certainly their hope and expectation," Rapoport explained on NFL Network this morning, via NFL.com. "They did some tests on Andrew Luck's shoulder earlier in the week. They found no structural damage to explain why he was experiencing some soreness, just some bruising in his throwing shoulder."
ESPN's Adam Schefter sounded a bit less confident this morning, but added that the Colts are hoping that the fact that they got Luck extra rest on Sunday means he will be able to play Thursday:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ESPN's <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter">@AdamSchefter</a>: "I think right now nobody knows, including Andrew Luck, whether he's going to be able to go" on Thursday. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Colts?src=hash">#Colts</a></p>— Josh Wilson (@JoshWilsonSB) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshWilsonSB/status/651051226445037568">October 5, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Luck threw for the Colts on Saturday and then on Sunday the Colts decided that he just didn't have the arm strength needed to go out there and play (due to the soreness) and so they decided to give Matt Hasselbeck the start. It sounds like the fact the Colts are playing two games in five days did have an impact on the decision as well (according to Schefter), as the Colts thought they could rest Luck Sunday against the Jaguars to hopefully have him ready in time to play against the Texans.
We'll be keeping an eye on the situation this week, but it sounds like the Colts are hoping and expecting Andrew Luck to play Thursday. Take these reports with a grain of salt because, well, if the sources are anyone in the Colts organization they might not be telling the complete truth (like the Colts publicly last week), but they still seem to corroborate the hope that Luck will be able to play in an AFC South matchup against the Texans on a short week.