COLTS

Luck day-to-day while Colts face quick turnaround

Zak Keefer
zak.keefer@indystar.com
  • Colts at Texans, 8:25 p.m. Thursday, CBS, NFL
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) on the bench in the second half of their game. The Indianapolis Colts play the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, October 4, 2015, afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts defeated the Jaguars 16-13.

An urgent message to Andrew Luck: The Indianapolis Colts need you back. Preferably as soon as possible.

For the first time in his NFL career, the Colts starting quarterback stood and watched a football game from the sidelines. And his team scraped by, 16-13 over the Jacksonville Jaguars, but only after the Jags’ kicker gift-wrapped the win by botching two field goals with the game on the line.

This much was certain: The Colts can’t survive without Luck for long.

“He made progress all week,” coach Chuck Pagano said. “He made progress. So we’re going to continue ... he’s getting treatment right now. He’ll work out tomorrow and we’ll just take it day-by-day and see where he’s at.”

Luck continues to recover from a sore throwing shoulder while the team faces its shortest turnaround of the season: In just four days the Colts (2-2) will take on the Texans (1-3) in Houston. The team limited Luck in practice each day last week and held one final workout with him Saturday morning, hoping he’d progress to the point they felt comfortable putting him out there.

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They never did. They decided to hold him out, erring on the side of caution.

“He was trending in the right direction throughout the course of the week,” Pagano said. “Maybe he could come in this morning, we were going to evaluate him, see how he felt and (he) just wasn’t ready.”

Plan B’s name was Matt Hasselbeck, and he stepped in and delivered a 30-of-47 for 282 yards and one touchdown. Luck, meanwhile, remains day-to-day.

Freeman among those injured

Linebacker Jerrell Freeman exited the game in the first half with a groin injury and didn’t return. Same goes for cornerback Jalil Brown.

Pagano said the team will know more about the injuries on Monday.

“There is no 24-hour rule in effect on this one,” he said. “We’ve got to go to work. You guys know as well as I do we have another tough division game on the road Thursday night down in Houston."

Colts at Texans, 8:25 p.m. Thursday, CBS, NFL