Andrew Luck: “I feel great, 100 percent and ready to go”

Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is in the concussion protocol currently, but the team felt that he was still able to meet with the media, which he did on Monday (players in the concussion protocol don’t have to speak with the media).

Luck said that he’s feeling good, saying, "I feel great, 100 percent and ready to go." It sounds like he fully expects to play on Monday night against the Jets, and that’s what head coach Chuck Pagano also said earlier today.

Luck declined to get into specifics regarding his concussion or if he could have played Sunday, but he just said that he knew something was wrong after the game and that he was feeling better towards the end of the week. He said that it wasn’t surprising that the symptoms showed up late and not during the game because he’s never had a concussion before so he wouldn’t know what to expect otherwise.

He’s still in the concussion protocol, but he was back at practice today and so he’s progressing well throughout the process. The next step is to have a contact practice (which he said it’s up to the powers that be to determine what a contact practice is for a quarterback), and then get cleared by an independent neurologist. So Luck isn’t in the clear yet, but Pagano and Luck sound optimistic about a return for Monday night’s game.

The Colts could really use the return of their franchise quarterback, as though Scott Tolzien did an admirable job he’s not Andrew Luck. Indy is trying to make a late push into the playoffs, and to do that they’ll need Luck back and playing well. He’s itching to get back too, as he mentioned that having to stand on the sidelines for Thursday’s game was tough, just like it was when he missed nine games last year.

"It’s no fun," he said. "Once you get past that point you have to help the team and try to help the team and like anything try to learn and see what Scott is doing. What a tough game he played, he gave us a chance to win really. He did a heck of a job. As far as, yeah, I guess [it was] a little bit like last year but different too in a sense that most of the time last year I knew I wasn’t coming back in for x amount of time or the whole year really. This was, okay I need to get ready for next week."