Andrew Luck throwing, but healing still requires "time"

When the Colts take the field this Sunday night in Pittsburgh to face the Steelers, they will once again be without their franchise quarterback, as Andrew Luck is still recovering from the lacerated kidney and torn abdominal muscle that he suffered in the week nine win over the Broncos.

This Sunday will be week number four since Luck's injury, which falls right in the middle of the two-to-six week timeline the Colts gave initially after announcing the injury.  It always seemed like it would be toward the longer end of that timeline, but at this point it's worth wondering when Luck will get back.

The Colts aren't giving any firm timetable, as they realize that with an internal injury like the one Luck suffered they don't want to rush him back too quickly.  That was really the main thing that head coach Chuck Pagano emphasized in his press conference today too when asked about Luck's progression.

"I think this is just something that [requires] time," Pagano said.  "It's more time than anything else when you have an injury, especially to an organ."

The Colts are willing to give him that time necessary, especially since Matt Hasselbeck has been playing well in Luck's absence.  There is absolutely no quarterback controversy whenever Luck is ready to go, but the Colts aren't going to rush him back from this injury.

Luck spoke with the media today as well and reiterated what Pagano said regarding simply needing time to heal, but he did note that he has been throwing "a fair amount" and that there's not as much pain anymore, which is good news.  There still, however, isn't a timeline on when Luck will return to the field, as both the Colts and Luck know that time is needed to fully heal the star quarterback.

If we had to speculate, a return for either the December 20th game against the Houston Texans or the December 27th game against the Miami Dolphins seems like the most likely for Luck, but again, there's nothing official yet.  He is still described as week-to-week by the Colts, and while he's throwing, he'll still require more time to fully heal.  So, as has been the case for the past few weeks, we're just in a wait and see mode with Luck regarding when he'll return.