Colts HC Frank Reich Says Andrew Luck 'Close' to Throwing After Shoulder Injury

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck didn’t play a down during the 2017 season because of a shoulder injury, but his head coach said he is about ready to start throwing again.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Frank Reich said Luck is "real close" to throwing a football as he looks to return to form as one of the best signal-callers in the league when healthy.

This comes after Colts general manager Chris Ballard appeared on PFT Live last month and said the team was targeting training camp as the return date for Luck, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

"[The] timeline’s good," Ballard said. "You know, he’s actually not even throwing a football. He’s doing everything we’re asking him to do. He’s got a program specifically laid out that puts his timeline to be back at training camp. He didn’t want to skip a step. I don’t know if he skipped a step last year, but I think he felt the pressure of coming back."

Ballard went on to say Luck "looks the best I’ve seen him."

That would be welcome news for the Colts, who went 4-12 without him last season and would be forced to start Jacoby Brissett if Luck isn’t ready to go by the 2018 opener against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sept. 9.

When healthy, Luck has proven himself as a three-time Pro Bowler who led the league with 40 touchdown passes in 2014. He played just seven games in 2015 but threw for 4,240 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2016—the last time he appeared on the field.

He had shoulder surgery after that season before missing all of last year.