Pagano on Luck: “He’s been through hell.”

When Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano addressed the media today, he had a lot to say about quarterback Andrew Luck. This coming off the news reported by ESPN’s Chris Mortensen two days ago that Luck would return to Indianapolis this week to throw and determine whether or not he would need to consider the possibility of having a second surgery in January to correct his biceps tendon.

“He’s been through hell,” Pagano said. “Everyone has. And more than him. Nobody wants to be back on the field more than Andrew. This is an unfortunate set of circumstances for everybody.”

After not placing Luck on the PUP list to start the year, the Colts soon realized that their quarterback was going to miss more time.

“When I first walked in the door, we were all very optimistic, but you don’t know,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard said. “Even going into training camp when he was starting his throwing program, we felt optimistic. Worst-case scenario it would be early in the season.’’

However, things didn’t go the way the team planned.

“Then, we just weren’t progressing the way we wanted to progress,’’ Ballard said. “It just kept going on. That’s when we got to the point we started asking more questions.

“Our intention all along was for Andrew to play and Andrew said that: ‘My intention is to play and I will be back on the field this year.’ Sometimes it just doesn’t work out the way we all want it to.’’

However, all signs have pointed positive in Luck’s recovery from shoulder surgery. Mortensen reported that both Luck and the Colts organization were optimistic that the 28-year-old signal caller would not need additional surgery and his recovery was apparently “going well” according to Mortensen.

Pagano shared the optimism today by stating, "He (Luck) will be back. And he will be back better than ever."