HEADLINE

Colts GM: Luck’s injury to high ankle, not bone

Field Level Media

August 14, 2019 at 1:47 am.

The Indianapolis Colts on Tuesday gave a third suspected cause for the pain that quarterback Andrew Luck has been feeling in his lower left leg, this time not involving the “small little bone” that team owner Jim Irsay blamed it on the day before.

General manager Chris Ballard told media members on a conference call on Tuesday that Luck’s problem is a high ankle issue, specifically to the front of the ankle. And while Ballard wasn’t ruling Luck out for the Colts’ season opener on Sept. 8 on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers, the QB “most likely” won’t take part in preseason games.

“We’re 3 1/2 weeks away from regular season, so I’m not ready to say” whether Luck will take part, Ballard said.

With the new diagnosis, Ballard hopes that an appropriate change in treating Luck’s leg can still get him ready for the regular season.

“Once we get that under control, then we can really move forward,” Ballard said. “All players need reps, and he knows that, and he knows he needs to get out there and get his reps. So we’ll play that kind of day-by-day.”

Ballard’s comments came a day after team owner Jim Irsay said the reason for Luck’s extended absence from practice is related to a “small little bone” in his left leg — the os trigonum, a small bone behind the ankle.

“I know everyone’s had their questions about Andrew and that sort of thing, but I really feel very confident that he’s going to find his way through this thing,” Irsay said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “I think after the (Kevin) Durant things (that) everyone’s erring on the side of caution, but quite frankly this is not even in the Achilles tendon. It’s in another area. It’s a bone. You know I’m not good at these things. … It’s a small little bone.”

Luck, who turns 30 next month, originally injured his calf in April and has participated in only limited fashion in three practices in training camp. That brought the initial word that he was dealing with a calf strain.

Zak Keefer of The Athletic listed the sequence of the team’s announcements of suspected causes of Luck’s discomfort, saying the team “believes they’ve found source of pain.”

Luck was the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 2018, passing for 4,593 yards and 39 touchdowns after sitting out the entire 2017 season because of a shoulder injury.

It’s possible a third quarterback would be kept on the Colts’ 53-man roster behind Jacoby Brissett, who would start if Luck is absent.

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