Andrew Luck admits he had ‘little mental block’ with throwing regulation footballs

Andrew Luck has been rehabbing his surgically-repaired shoulder for a very, very long time. When he resumed his throwing program last year, he dealt with pain in the shoulder and had to shut it down for several more months. Physical limitations are one thing, but Indianapolis Colts fans might be more concerned to hear their star quarterback admit he had a “mental block” when it came to throwing footballs.

After he threw passes in front of a camera on Tuesday for the first time in what felt like forever, Luck told reporters he actually tossed an NFL-sized football around with new Colts head coach Frank Reich three weeks ago. He recalled the exchange he had with Reich before swearing him to secrecy.

“What do you think?” Luck said he asked Reich, per Zak Keefer of the Indianpolis Star. “Let’s pick this thing up and throw it around a little bit? It felt great.”

As Keefer notes, Luck later admitted he had a “little mental block” prior to that session. He was nervous about getting back to throwing “The Duke,” as he calls it, which is a regulation-sized NFL ball. After he threw on Tuesday, Luck said there is a difference between any soreness he may experience this summer and the pain he felt last year.

“It’s gone,” Luck of the pain. “The pain is gone and it’s going to stay that way. … (I had) a very different soreness (last year). I had pain last year that I wasn’t being honest to myself about. I was trying to get through pain, per se. There’s none of that now.”

That all sounds like good news, but there was still one very bizarre aspect of Luck’s workout on Tuesday — he was throwing a high school sized-football. The 28-year-old said that size ball has helped him bridge the gap between the weighted balls he has been throwing in rehab and a 14-ounce NFL ball.

Luck has already said he’s going to take it slow, but it’s still a red flag that he’s throwing high school footballs whether it’s for physical reasons or because of his “little mental block.” Colts owner Jim Irsay may have once again been beaming with confidence when speaking about Luck, but Tuesday’s throwing session was anything but normal.