WESTFIELD, Ind. — Andrew Luck’s injured left leg isn’t getting any better.
So the Indianapolis Colts are sitting down their biggest star.
Luck missed Tuesday’s practice after telling coaches his strained calf felt worse following the first week of training camp. Coach Frank Reich announced Luck would be sidelined at least three more days and would miss next week’s preseason opener at Buffalo.
“I’ve made progress ever since I started working on this issue, but the progress wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough,” Luck said. “I feel like something’s going to yank, something’s going to pull trying to change directions aggressively. That’s something you need to do to play football and I’m not there yet.”
The Colts have been playing it safe with Luck ever since he initially got hurt in the spring.
He missed the team’s offseason workouts, didn’t even throw to teammates on the West Coast leading into camp as he usually does and was limited to individual drills and 7-on-7 work last week.
Apparently, it hasn’t helped.
On Sunday, Luck walked with a slight limp between plays and missed some throws, albeit in breezy conditions. After everybody took Monday off, Luck met with Reich and the team’s medical staff and explained he still felt soreness in the leg and pain around his ankle.
Reich wasted no time making the call.
“You probably won’t see him the next two days and then we’ll have another off day and then we’ll go from there,” Reich said. “Honestly, if he had come in here 100 percent healthy, I had already determined he was not going to play in the Buffalo game anyway. That was determined three months ago. I wouldn’t play him the last preseason game. So the plan, in a perfect world, would have been to play him a little bit in Game 2 and a little bit in Game 3 but not a whole lot.”
After making 15 starts with a partially torn labrum in his throwing shoulder in 2016 and missing the entire 2017 season following surgery – perhaps because he tried to come back too soon – he doesn’t intend to rush the rehab this time.
Jacoby Brissett has been working with the starters in Luck’s absence.
Brissett was acquired in a trade just before the 2017 season opener, replaced Scott Tolzien late in Week 1 and started the final 15 games as the Colts stumbled to a 4-12 mark. Last year, Brissett threw only four passes in four games, completing two.
BENGALS: Receiver A.J. Green had ankle surgery Tuesday and is expected to miss the start of the season. He hurt his left ankle during the opening practice of camp Saturday in Dayton, landing awkwardly after cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick bumped into the star receiver while breaking up a pass.
Coach Zac Taylor said Green had surgery Tuesday morning and likely won’t be ready for the start of the season. Cincinnati opens at Seattle on Sept. 8 and then hosts San Francisco. The Bengals visit Buffalo the third week followed by a Monday night game at Pittsburgh on Sept. 30.
COWBOYS: A man who was involved in a car accident with Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott in January 2017 is suing the team and Elliott for $20 million, according to a report by TMZ.com. The suit alleges that the Cowboys conspired with Frisco (Texas) Police “to cover up the details of the wreck at the time.”
Ronnie Hill, who was driving a BMW 750 when it was side-swiped by Elliott’s GMC Yukon SUV, alleges Cowboys running backs coach Gary Brown rushed to the scene of the accident and told him that the team “would take care of everything.” The accident occurred four days before the Cowboys’ playoff game against the Green Bay Packers. According to the suit, Elliott was headed to Cowboys’ practice and was running late. Hill alleges Elliott ran a red light.
CHIEFS: After a hard collision with cornerback Bashaud Breeland at the catch point, Tyreek Hill leaving remained on the ground before making his way to the injury tent on Tuesday and he rode in a cart to the practice facility for further evaluation. Hill had suffered a right quadriceps contusion, the team announced after practice.
SEAHAWKS: Seattle first-round pick L.J. Collier was carted off the practice field with a right leg injury.
Collier was rushing the passer during a team session when he grabbed at his lower leg. The team didn’t offer specifics on the injury after practice Tuesday. Collier was attended to on the field for a brief time before limping off and eventually needing a cart to get back to the locker room.
DOLPHINS: Josh Rosen is looking like a backup, and the perennial problem of bad blocking has prompted a coaching staff change less than a week into training camp.
Otherwise, the Miami Dolphins’ offense is taking shape nicely.
Rosen joined the Dolphins in April as their latest hope to become a franchise quarterback. But on Tuesday, Coach Brian Flores said journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick has emerged as the front-runner for the starting job.
“Ryan Fitzpatrick is leading the way,” Flores said. “He has been more productive. He runs the offense very efficiently. He has great rapport with the entire team; he has a lot of leadership ability.
BROWNS: Cleveland is honoring Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham with a statue outside FirstEnergy Stadium. Graham played 10 seasons with Cleveland, leading the Browns to a title game in each one. With Graham, the Browns won four All-America Football Conference championships (1946, 1947, 1948, 1949) and three NFL championships (1950, 1954, 1955).
FALCONS: For the second straight year, Julio Jones will sit out Atlanta’s full preseason schedule.
Jones said Tuesday he will be coaching the team’s younger wide receivers in Thursday night’s Hall of Fame game against the Denver Broncos in Canton, Ohio. Jones and the Falcons continue to negotiate a contract extension. Jones said his preseason plan has nothing to do with those talks.
49ERS: San Francisco placed cornerback Jason Verrett on what it calls a “pitch count,” meaning they’ve limited his workload during the early portions of training camp as he has makes strides during his recovery from an Achilles tear.
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