Andrew Luck knows he's to blame for injury

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck knows he’s at least partially to blame for the lacerated kidney and torn abdominal muscle that will sideline him for the longest stretch of his NFL career.

“Part of it I brought upon myself for not sliding in certain situations,” Luck said Wednesday, speaking for the first time since his injury was announced Nov. 10. “There’s a time and a place for taking a hit; I’m not going to apologize in that sense, because sometimes it’s appropriate. But sliding is something I need to improve on, but we’ve talked about that before. It’s no secret.”

No. It’s not. Luck’s valiant effort in that 27-24 win over the previously-undefeated Denver Broncos proved extremely costly for a team that is 5-5 and in the thick of the AFC South race. The play was vintage Luck — scrambling out of a collapsing pocket, dodging tacklers, scraping for a first down.

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He only made it 4 yards before Broncos linebacker Danny Trevathan and defensive end Vance Walker sandwiched him. It wasn’t pretty.

Luck said he felt something on the play — something different. But, he added, quarterbacks feel something each and every Sunday. So he bounced back up, beat the Denver blitz, and threw a touchdown to Ahmad Bradshaw on the very next play.

What he didn’t know at the time: The hit had lacerated his kidney.

“You feel something a lot of times when you’re playing football,” he said. “Adrenaline’s a very powerful thing.”

The prescription for Luck while he mends, at this juncture, is simple: His body needs time to rest. He stands on the sideline during the team’s practices. He attends the quarterback meetings. He watches. He waits.

“Rest is a huge, huge portion of it, from what the doctors and everybody has told me, for organs to get healthy,” Luck said.

The timetable remains two-to-six weeks. Fifteen days have passed, but Luck has yet to return to the field in any capacity. If he does indeed miss the full six weeks, he’d return to game action on Dec. 27 in Miami. He said more than once Wednesday that pinpointing any possible return date is still premature.

Still, he remains “very, very confident,” he will return this year.

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“Obviously, going to defer to the doctors,” Luck said. “As athletes, we do know our bodies very well. We like to say we know them better than anyone else. But as I understand, an organ healing is non-negotiable.”

Luck arrived at the Colts’ facility the day after the win over the Broncos feeling less than stellar. The Colts put him through “a battery of tests,” he said, and finally landed on the the lacerated kidney and partially-torn abdomen muscle diagnosis.

“Not a fun day, necessarily,” Luck said. “Great that we won. Made that a little better. I appreciate how seriously the Colts treated the situation and I feel like I was in great care from everybody that I talked to throughout the process.”

For now, he remains resolute in allowing his kidney time to heal. It’s the latest hurdle Luck must overcome in the most trying football season of his career, dating back to his college days at Stanford. He entered the year as an MVP candidate. He struggled, was hurt. He returned, struggled some more, then played his best game of the season against the Broncos.

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Now, this.

“Some different challenges have presented themselves this year,” he said. “I know I wasn’t playing very good football to start the season off. Now I have to deal with injuries. Shoot, that’s sports. That’s football. No one feels sorry for you. (We have to) keep plugging away. (We’re) sitting at 5-5 with a chance to do what we want to do. It’s sort of like a playoff game each week. That’s the mentality.”

The Colts plod along, without The Franchise, as they prepare for Sunday’s home game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“He’s at practice, he’s very helpful,” sack backup-turned starter Matt Hasselbeck. “He doesn't do anything passively. Wouldn’t surprise him to see him with an exercise bike next to the huddle someday.”

Call Star reporter Zak Keefer at (317) 444-6134. Follow him on Twitter: @zkeefer.