Jim Irsay says Andrew Luck’s shoulder injury “not a serious issue”

Andrew Luck is dealing with a shoulder injury.

That much we know for sure, as he’s been limited in practice this season with the injury and sat out a day of practice last week after saying it was sore following the Broncos game. The question all along has been regarding how serious the injury is, or in other words, how much Colts fans should freak out over it. According to Colts owner Jim Irsay, it’s not reason to worry.

“As the owner who just committed that type of contract, I’m telling you that shoulder is not something to be overly-concerned about,’’ Irsay told members of the media in London on Saturday, according to CBS4’s Mike Chappell. “There’s nothing surgically [required], trust me. There isn’t any sort of chronic shoulder injury. I promise you, there’s no surgeries planned. He is fine and the shoulder will be something that disappears into the woodwork when he gets his next MVP or when we win a Super Bowl.’’

Irsay also added that it’s not a serious issue.

“He is fine,’’ Irsay said. “He will play until whatever he wants to, 38, 39 years old. He’s going to be with us for a long, long time and I do not see him missing any games this year.’’

The injury “is not a serious issue,” Irsay continued. “It’s just something along the way that we’re monitoring and having to make sure we practice him and do the right sort of things until it starts feeling completely 100 percent every day. But it’s not something that concerns us at all. He can throw it 70 yards. He’s ready to play and I see him having a great year.’’

Luck is indeed having a great year, as through the first three games he’s on pace to throw for 4,869 yards and 32 touchdowns with just 11 picks this year. He’s done a very good job overall of leading the offense and has also done a good job of limiting the turnovers (his interception percentage is at just 1.6% this year). But one area that Irsay would still like to see him improve is regarding taking less unnecessary hits - especially trying to make a tackle on an interception return.

“He can throw it 70 yards. He’s ready to play,” Irsay said, according to the Indianapolis Star’s Stephen Holder. “I’m more concerned about him – and him and I have talked – about he has to protect the football and protect himself. Look, he throws the interception, it’s tough, he’s mad. I know. But no Ray Lewis tackles. Do what Peyton [Manning] did. You do a little foxtrot, you don’t embarrass yourself, you push a few guys but you stay out of the fray. You don’t see Aaron Rodgers [and] you didn’t see Peyton get involved in those type of frays. That’s when tough things happen.”

Holder wrote that he thinks Irsay was implying with those comments that Luck’s sore shoulder that the quarterback spoke about last week came in large part due to his efforts in trying to make a tackle on Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib. Whether that’s actually what Irsay was implying or not, however, it’s clear that the owner doesn’t want to see his quarterback making the tackles. Interceptions happen, but Luck doesn’t need to make things worse by putting himself in harm’s way.

The Colts don’t exactly have a lot of credibility built up when it comes to Andrew Luck’s health, but everything we’ve heard points toward the shoulder injury just being precautionary.