The Indianapolis Colts escaped with a 16-13 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in overtime Sunday, and they are hopeful the winning effort from veteran backup Matt Hasselbeck will be the only one the team needs from him this season.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that the Colts are planning on Luck starting against the Houston Texans Thursday night. Luck’s shoulder injury is not considered to be serious.
“At this point that is certainly their hope and expectation,” Rapoport said on NFL Network. “They did some tests on Andrew Luck’s shoulder earlier in the week. They found no structural damage to explain why he was experiencing some soreness, just some bruising in his throwing shoulder.”
Luck was initially expected to play on Sunday, but he apparently did not show enough shoulder strength throughout the week. The injury he is dealing with sounds very similar to the one Drew Brees battled in recent weeks, and he missed just one game before returning to play well against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday night.
The Colts badly needed a win against the Jaguars, so Luck’s injury must have been serious enough that the team did not want him to risk a setback. Fortunately, Hasselbeck did just enough. A third consecutive divisional win would be huge for Indy, so hopefully Luck doesn’t have another performance that inspires Chuck Pagano to make controversial remarks.
