Andrew Luck: "I am preparing to start" on Thursday night vs. Texans

The Indianapolis Colts aren't saying much about Andrew Luck's status for this Thursday night's game against the Houston Texans, and when they do say something, it normally sounds pretty similar to last week.  You can basically know before the question is even asked how Chuck Pagano is going to answer it.  If it's about Andrew Luck and his status, Pagano says something like "he's trending in the right direction" or "he was limited" or "he looks good" or "we're hopeful."

Likewise, Andrew Luck won't talk about any specifics of his injury.  But when he talked to the media today, he made this much clear: he plans to start on Thursday night.

"I am preparing to start and play and again have a chance to go up against a really good football team in the Texans," Luck told the media on Tuesday.  "That's the preparation mindset."

Luck said that he's getting "better every day" and that he "keep[s] making gains."  He added that, "I think I've gotten better every day. I don't think I'm necessarily where I would want to be today in a perfect, perfect world but I'm better every day."  Luck said that "I'd like to think that I'm ahead of where I was last week."

Andrew Luck's comments are Tuesday are in line with what Matt Hasselbeck said on Monday when he said that he expects Luck to start.  Luck was limited in practice on Tuesday, but he did take the majority of the reps with Hasselbeck out due to illness.

Of course, Luck missed the first game of his NFL career on Sunday when he didn't play against the Jacksonville Jaguars, snapping a streak of 51 games in a row (57 including playoffs) that Luck had started in his career.  He suffered a shoulder injury in the game against the Titans that has kept him limited in practice ever since and has caused his status in Thursday's game to be in doubt.  It is still nothing certain, but it's sounding more likely that Luck will indeed play.  With all of that said, however, it also sounds like he'll still be a game time decision.  Pagano said that the decision will be no different than last week (when Luck was a game time decision), so it sounds like we won't know for sure about Luck's status until shortly before the game.  But for now, Andrew Luck is absolutely preparing to start that game this Thursday.