Luck, Hasselbeck listed as questionable, Colts re-sign Josh Johnson

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

UPDATE: Andrew Luck and Matt Hasselbeck are listed as questionable for Thursday's game at Houston. Earlier Wednesday, the Colts re-signed QB Josh Johnson, giving the team three quarterbacks.

Per IndyStar Colts Insider Zak Keefer: "Colts make a contingency plan for the second straight week and sign QB Josh Johnson.

"Johnson signing isn't surprising. Hasselbeck dealing with some sort of illness Tuesday and missed practice. And (Andrew) Luck playing is no sure thing."

In a corresponding move, the team placed cornerback Jalil Brown on injured reserve.

The Colts had released Johnson following Sunday's win over Jacksonville.

Linebackers Jerrell Freeman (groin) and Bjoern Werner (hamstring), and running back Tyler Varga (concussion) are out for Thursday's game. Mike Adams (neck), Henry Anderson (foot) and Vontae Davis (foot) are also questionable. Dwayne Allen (ankle), Kendall Langford (back), Greg Toler (neck) and Frank Gore (foot) are listed as probable.

PREVIOUSLY REPORTED:

Beyond the tired clichés ("he's trending in the right direction"), their stab at secrecy (having the quarterbacks throw inside while the rest of the team practices outside) and the Indianapolis Colts' utter unwillingness to divulge any real, tangible information about the status of their star quarterback ("He's getting better," they keep repeating), there was one nugget Tuesday that said it all.

"I'm preparing to start and to play," Andrew Luck said matter-of-factly.

The Colts' franchise quarterback missed the first start of his NFL career Sunday. He doesn't intend, nor expect, to make it two in a row when the Colts (2-2) take on the Texans (1-3) in Houston on Thursday night (8:25 p.m., CBS, NFL). Details were scarce Tuesday at the team's West 56th Street facility — no surprise there — but the overall sentiment was the same as a day earlier. That is: Luck's sore throwing shoulder is making progress and his return to the field could come as early as Thursday night.

"He looks good," was about all coach Chuck Pagano would concede.

Colts pass rush needs Robert Mathis ... again

Luck practiced for the second consecutive day as a limited participant, taking the majority of snaps with the Colts' first-team offense. He spoke to the media following practice for the first time in six days. More than once Luck leaned on this phrase: "I think I've gotten better every day."

Asked if his throws have had the same zip on them as they did before the injury — sustained in a Week 3 victory in Tennessee — Luck wouldn't say they did.

"That's a good question," he said. "I think I've gotten better every day. I don't think I'm necessarily where I'd want to be today in a perfect, perfect world."

He wouldn't address reports of a partial separation in his throwing shoulder.

"I don't want to give credence to any report," Luck said. "People have told me a lot of different things about what I allegedly have or don't have, so I'm not going to address one and give it credence."

Luck has been rehabbing the shoulder since taking some brutal hits in the team's 35-33 win over the Titans on Sept. 27. He was limited in practice each day last week, mostly handing off as opposed to making actual throws. The Colts coaches worked him out one final time Saturday morning to gauge his availability for Sunday's game, but eventually held him out.

Thursday will be 11 days since the Tennessee game.

If he does return Thursday, would he physically feel hindered in anyway?

"If I'm playing, I wouldn't expected to be hindered at all," he said.

What has happened to Andre Johnson?

Also at play is the defense the Colts will face, the one that includes game-wrecker J.J. Watt, a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Luck was asked Tuesday about preparing mentally — both for a return to the field and for the game's most menacing defensive player.

Will it be a challenge?

"No, I don't think so," Luck said. "I think anyone who's played the game of football has played with something at some point, and adrenaline's a powerful thing. You go out and play."

That remains the question: Will Andrew Luck play Thursday? Asked if he'd be surprised if he weren't out there, Luck's response was brief.

"Yeah," he said. "I want to go out there and play, for sure."

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