Jim Irsay reveals Colts QB Andrew Luck had surgery on shoulder
INDIANAPOLIS – After 17 days, Jim Irsay has finally broken his silence.
And he’s not talking about Jon Gruden or Peyton Manning. He’s talking about his $140 million quarterback.
Andrew Luck underwent successful outpatient surgery to fix a right shoulder injury that has lingered since the 2015 season, the Indianapolis Colts owner tweeted Thursday morning. Irsay added that Luck will be ready for the start of the 2017 season.
Luck’s name popped up on the injury report every single week this past season; the team routinely called it maintenance. He usually was a limited participant on Thursdays, handing the ball off to the running backs instead of throwing. He started 15 of 16 games – missing just one due to a concussion – and threw for 31 touchdowns and 4,374 yards, the second-best totals of his five-year career.
But he took some nasty hits – what’s new? – behind an offensive line that struggled mightily the first half of the year. When the team was in London for a Week 4 game against Jacksonville, Irsay strongly suggested Luck aggravated his throwing shoulder when he tried, in vain, to stop the Broncos’ Aqib Talib on an interception return in Week 2.
“There isn’t some kind of chronic shoulder injury or anything like that, I promise you,” Irsay said then. “There are no surgeries planned. He is fine and the shoulder is something that just disappears into the woodwork when he wins his next MVP or when he wins a Super Bowl.”
Apparently not. Asked if there was anything to worry about with regards to his shoulder after Week 17, Luck…