Extra Points
News and commentary from around the Web
Extra PointsFO on ESPNPodcasts

See All Extra Points

See All FO on ESPN Posts

See All Podcasts

Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

Breaking and unexpected injury news. Andrew Luck will miss 2-6 weeks with a laceration in one of his kidneys as well as a partial tear of an abdominal muscle. It's not quite as bad for the Colts as you might imagine. They have a bye this week, and Matt Hasselbeck is still a reasonable backup at the age of 40. I assume Hasselbeck faces Atlanta in Week 11 -- the Falcons schedule gets EVEN MORE RIDICULOUSLY EASY with this injury -- and probably Tampa Bay in Week 12. Perhaps Luck can be back in time for Week 13 at Pittsburgh?

View Full Article

Comments

49 comments, Last at 15 Nov 2015, 7:46am

3 Next man up.....

by Will Allen // Nov 10, 2015 - 4:00pm

Hasselbeck has been in the hospital already this year. Who's next on the depth chart?

4 Re: Hasselbeck

by tuluse // Nov 10, 2015 - 4:02pm

It's not actually clear Hasselbeck for Luck is going to make Atlanta's schedule easier given their respective DVOA's this season.

6 Re: Hasselbeck

by Will Allen // Nov 10, 2015 - 4:15pm

Thus illuminating the limits of statistical analysis. I can assure you that if you told Dan Quinn his life depended on beating the Colts, and he had a choice between trying to do it while playing against a healthy Andrew Luck, or a healthy Matt Hasselbeck, he'd be picking Hasselbeck faster than Phil Simms can think of something stupid to say. Which is really fast. Really. If unintentional.

8 Re: Hasselbeck

by tuluse // Nov 10, 2015 - 4:33pm

There were rumors that Luck started the season with an injury he was playing through. So I'd say the chances of a healthy Luck were pretty close to NIL. In which case Hasselbeck could put together a game or two better than him (as he has this year).

10 Re: Hasselbeck

by justanothersteve // Nov 10, 2015 - 4:42pm

... he'd be picking Hasselbeck faster than Phil Simms can think of something stupid to say.

I literally LOL'ed.

16 Re: Hasselbeck

by James-London // Nov 10, 2015 - 8:33pm

 he'd be picking Hasselbeck faster than Phil Simms can think of something stupid to say. 
+1

Phil Simms is a Cretin.

5 Re: BREAKING NEWS: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks

by nat // Nov 10, 2015 - 4:13pm

Wow, that sucks for Luck and the Colts. They do have a decent backup QB, so there's that. He'll be back before the playoffs. And anything can happen in the playoffs.

Heal up, Mr. Luck!

11 BREAKING NEWS: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

by Bobman // Nov 10, 2015 - 5:47pm

When I saw the first headlines I assumed it was a head/neck injury. This is... probably worse short term. I was really starting to think they just might run the table and throw up a fourth consecutive 11-5 season (as if that means anything).

Did anybody else notice in Sunday's game that he got hit in the helmet a handful of times, and not just by a stray hand either, but usually a DL's helmet or shoulder pads? In the pocket (not while running). I was pretty grumpy about the way he was bashed around back there--Steeler fans, please chime in, because I vaguely recall complaints that there was another set of QB abuse rules for Ben versus, say Brady and Peyton. I recall seeing ridiculous (but technically correct) flags for when a defender's fingers graze a QB's helmet... has the rule changed? It's application? Am I being too sensitive?

Do refs call these things differently because of a given QB's playing style and perceived burliness? If so, Sunday Colts vs the Broncos was a good example, because man, that dude got crumpled a lot and came back time and time again.

12 Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

by MilkmanDanimal // Nov 10, 2015 - 5:48pm

Tampa gets the Cowboys without Romo, and quite possibly the Colts sans Luck. Listen, nobody should get hurt, but if they do manage to get hurt and can manage to get hurt in a way that makes my team's life easier, well, I guess that's OK.

15 Re: BREAKING NEWS: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks

by Peregrine // Nov 10, 2015 - 8:27pm

The complete list of opposing starting QBs the Falcons have faced this year: Sam Bradford, Eli Manning, Brandon Weeden, Ryan Mallett, Kirk Cousins, Drew Brees, Zach Mettenberger, Jameis Winston, Blaine Gabbert, and likely Matt Hasselbeck. Five of them were backup QBs at the start of the year.

22 Re: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

by Paul R // Nov 11, 2015 - 2:38am

On the ground here in Indianapolis, most of the excitement today is about the IKEA we're getting on the north side.

I think most people haven't given up on the Colts but, as crazy as this season has been, we're just rolling with it.

25 Re: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

by Danimal // Nov 11, 2015 - 9:17am

so the Colts have found the successful template for beating the broncos defense this year:
1) have a franchise QB
2) remove thoughts of self preservation from said franchise QB
3) put the QB in positions where he must risk personal internal injury to extend drives
4) win!!!

broncos fans hope other teams don't have the stones to follow this template.

30 Re: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

by Bernie // Nov 11, 2015 - 1:35pm

It's times like these that I'm glad the trade deadline has passed. Is there any Colts fan out there that could not imagine Ryan Grigson dumping a first round pick for RGIII to play out the rest of the season? I initially thought of this as a joke, but then having seen Grigson in action, it doesn't seem that far fetched.

36 Re: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

A few doctors have weighed in saying that six weeks might be enough for a "full recovery" but you still wouldn't want to risk an impact to the organ. If the Colts have any sense at all, they'll understand this ain't a championship caliber squad and shut him down for the year if there's even the slightest of slight reasons to do so. The idea of risking the franchise's future so they can get blown out in the first round of the playoffs is ludicrous.

35 Re: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

by Bernie // Nov 11, 2015 - 5:52pm

My question big picture wise is this - Let's go to the extreme end of this scenario, and say that Luck is out for the rest of the regular season, and Hasselbeck takes advantage of that super soft schedule and wins out, to put the Colts at 11-5.
At that point, Hasselbeck will have gone 9-0 over his starts. If Luck is Healthy by the time the playoffs start, do you keep Hasselbeck at starter, or give the reins back to Luck?

37 Re: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

Not sure what angle you're coming at from this, but the question will never be about Hasselbeck's performance, only Luck's health. If the team goes 9-0, I think they have to consider putting Luck back in for the playoffs because the team will have improved to a point of being a legit contender - unless they sort of stumble and bumble through close games to that record and it's a mirage. In that case, don't risk Luck's health. In terms of Luck playing or not playing, they just shouldn't be thinking about the best strategies to win short-term.

39 Re: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

I guess my line of thinking is, if Hasselbeck has somehow managed to string together enough efficiency to get us 7 straight wins, wouldn't it be prudent to ride out the hot hand? The only way I could think making a QB change at that point would be if the Colts were winning in spite of Hasselbeck, and then it would make sense to change.
I don't write this to disparage Andrew Luck in any way - the guy is clearly the future of the franchise and the more talented QB, but given his injuries this year, and his poor perfomance in general, it seems like it would make sense to keep doing what has been succeeding until the offseason arrives. Assuming of course they do succeed.

40 Re: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

It's almost impossible for me to imagine that Hasselbeck's hand will ever be hot enough to warrant starting him over Luck based on performance alone. He'd have to put up MVP numbers for the remainder of the year for it to even be a question worth asking. More likely, if they go 7-0 from here on out, is that Hasselbeck is a cog in a well-functioning machine beating bad competition...

41 Re: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

by Rick_and_Roll // Nov 12, 2015 - 6:31pm

Luck was essentially Rocky last week. Denver knocked him down something like 12 times plus he didn't slide on most of his runs to make sure he got a first down.

I don't know how many QBs could've played as well and finished that game.

46 Re: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

I always wonder if you could run a Gibbs-style offense in the modern NFL where there with only two players running routes. I used to waive off the idea because Gibbs' return to the NFL in 2004 seemed so ignominious at the time. Looking back, knowing how awful the management is there, how crappy the franchise has been run and how utterly toxic and untenable a work environment Washington is, his two playoff appearances in 4 years seems like the work of goddamned magician. His QB's were Patrick Ramsey and 36 year-old Mark Brunell!

48 Re: Andrew Luck Out 2-6 Weeks with Lacerated Kidney

It was slightly different for me as an Eagles fan because that was during the shakiest period of Reid's tenure and I was TERRIFIED that Gibbs was going to nail our coffin shut. Of all the NFC East teams in the past decade and a half, the Redskins have inexplicably been the toughest out (they ended the Eagles season last year for example) and their upset against the Eagles midway through 2005 seemed like a harbinger of the end. They're the team I never, ever count on the Eagles beating (that would be the Giants... or the Cowboys when the regular season is on the line (minus the devastating 2009 loss. And the entire pre-Reid history of the franchise. Goddammit I hate the Cowboys.))

So when Gibbs re-joined the Redskins and won the game that dropped them to .500 and sent their 2005 season spiraling out of control, I really though "oh no! it's over!" Then they proceeded to be a dysfunctional mess and for years I thought that the game has just passed Gibbs by. Looking back now, though, I'm with you - it was kind of miracle to do what he did. Having Snyder for an owner is like being forced to play 10-on-11 for half the game. It's that big of a disadvantage.