Vorstellung » INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Andrew Luck traipses across the locker

room with a little extra pep in his step these days.It’s obvious from the smile that the Indianapolis Colts‘ starting quarterback is content to put on his shoulder pads Khari Willis Jersey , prepare for practice and get ready to make his first regular-season start in more than 20 months.Sure, there were times Luck questioned when or even if this day would come, whether he could regain the Pro Bowl form from his first three pro seasons after shoulder surgery and whether those regular pregame jitters he craves would again be part of his game-day routine.Now, just a few days away from facing Cincinnati’s defense, Luck looks and sounds like the confident leader everyone expects him to be this season.“I think everybody knows how great a quarterback he is. He’s been out for a little while so I think they’re probably waiting to see if he’s back, healthy, ready to go,” kicker Adam Vinatieri said. “Everything that we’ve seen this offseason through minicamp, training camp tells me he’s ready to rock and roll and be the Andrew we all know he can be.”Luck understands just how heavily scrutinized these first few games will be.He anticipates a litany of questions about his health, the subtle changes he’s made to his throwing motion after working out with former major league pitcher Tom House, his ability to bounce up after big hits and whether using the sidelines and baseball slides will change his approach to the game.After all, it was the hit he took from behind in the third preseason game that caused a minor foot injury that forced him out of two practices last week. But the fact he is talking about his foot rather than lingering pain in his right shoulder certainly is a sign of progress.“Certainly not as smooth (a recovery) as you’d like,” he said Wednesday, referring to his recovery from the surgery on a partially torn labrum in January 2017. “There have been hiccups and there have been challenges and hurdles to go over and frustrating times, and as a team, too. But I feel like we’ve always managed to find a way through it.”The darkest moments appeared to come after Luck shut down his throwing regimen and went on injured reserve last fall.He spent several weeks seeking additional opinions to determine whether a second procedure was necessary. Once assured nothing was structurally wrong Rock Ya-Sin Jersey , Luck headed to the Netherlands in November where he worked for more than a month working with a trusted trainer in relative anonymity.When he returned to the team complex in late December, Luck was clearly a frustrated man.“There was a time, probably a couple weeks into being away from here, in early December that was pretty difficult for me to sort of see the positive in things,” he said on Dec. 29. “You get a little emotionally tired. I am, I think, a little emotionally tired from the whole process. But that’s all right.”Teammates understood.“It’s a lonely feeling in this league when you get hurt and you can’t be out there with your teammates, for your coaches, for your fans,” tight end Jack Doyle said. “So when I think he got back around us and practicing and just playing football again, you really saw him come back to normal, I guess.”It took more than five months to see actual results.Luck resumed throwing footballs in May, a secret he kept by swearing first-year coach Frank Reich to silence.Then, on the second day of Indy’s three-day minicamp Luck made a surprise return and began flinging footballs around the practice field for the first time since October.Suddenly, the conversations changed throughout the city.Reich and general manager Chris Ballard outlined a training camp plan that called for Luck to mimic his regular-season routine by throwing three times per week in non-game settings.Luck’s brief appearance in the preseason opener at Seattle eased most doubts about whether he’d start the season opener.His ability to survive big hits in each of the first three preseason games proved to fans, coaches and critics he was healthy. And if any additional assurances were needed T.Y. Hilton Jersey , teammates found them in Luck’s demeanor on and off the field.“Seeing him finally come out in camp and just have that confidence back, it really is a lot of fun,” center Ryan Kelly said. “Being able to laugh and joke around, I’m sure a year ago even if he had been playing he didn’t have that in him. So it’s kind of like a reset button for him and it’s fun.”Now Luck must deal with yet another test.He faces a Bengals defense that includes sacks artists such as Geno Atkins, Michael Johnson, Carlos Dunlap and Carl Lawson with the possibility of playing behind two new tackles.Longtime left tackle Anthony Castonzo did limited work in practice Wednesday and his status for Sunday’s game remains unclear. Reich said he’s decided on a starter at right tackle, but won’t make an announcement till Sunday.Still, Luck isn’t fretting.He knows he’s endured tougher predicaments and experienced more mentally challenging moments over the past 20 months while rediscovering his passion for the game. And he can’t wait for the moment, Saturday night or Sunday morning, when his stomach tightens and those nerves start firing.“I think those butterflies will always be there,” he said with a smile. “It’s a special feeling and I’ve missed that feeling.” INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts coach Frank Reich leaves nothing to chance.He and his staff spend hours meticulously poring through game tapes, crunching numbers and plotting strategy each week. There’s a meeting every Friday with the team’s two analytics experts where everything from over-under projections to weather conditions come into play.Together, they try to plot out every conceivable game situation in hopes of simplifying the split-second decisions Reich makes each weekend.“They factor what’s the expected point total of the game, what’s the output of the other offense,” Reich said, explaining some variables used to create the charts. “It’s like there is a sliding scale and those things are adjusted. Really Darius Leonard Color Rush Jersey , they are quite sophisticated, quite complex and run off of literally millions of iterations.”Reich isn’t the only NFL coach to use analytics, but he might rely more heavily on the projections than other coaches — regardless of the results.Three times last weekend the Colts (6-6) found themselves facing fourth downs in field-goal position with Adam Vinatieri, the league’s career scoring leader, ready to kick. Three times, the charts indicated Reich should go for it. And all three times, Indy came up short.The resulting 6-0 loss at Jacksonville ended the Colts’ five-game winning streak, complicated their path to the playoffs, and dealt Andrew Luck his first shutout as a pro.Reich had been here before, though.On Sept. 30, he also opted to go for the win in overtime against Houston. A failed fourth-down attempt allowed the Texans (9-3) to kick the winning field goal as time expired — giving them their first victory in a nine-game winning streak they’ll put on the line in Sunday’s rematch.Houston can clinch the AFC South title with a win and a Tennessee loss.Indy (6-6), meanwhile, lost two more games before rebounding with a five-game winning streak that put it back in the playoff mix and had some outsiders openly questioning whether the Colts would have been better off playing it by the book and going for the tie in the first Houston game.But inside the locker room, there is no debate.“It told us he believes in his team, he was not going to allow us to lay down, and we would fight till the end https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Denzelle-Good-Jersey ,” rookie linebacker Darius Leonard said. “Yeah, we lost the game. But when he said we’re going for it, everybody on that bench was behind him.”Players embrace Reich’s aggressive philosophy in large part because they understand the rationale for his decisions, and they know the former NFL quarterback does his homework.He asks the analytics specialists not just to contemplate the Colts’ potential game-day situations but also to break down tape of every other NFL game and plot how the Colts would handle those decisions. Then Reich and Luck discuss the charts to assure everyone works from the same playbook.As a self-described nerd who runs his own book club, Luck understands what Reich’s philosophy is all about.“You play this game to win and he’s going to coach the game to win,” Luck said. “I think as players we obviously didn’t execute that one (against Houston), but I think that gave us a glimpse into how he coaches and his approach. We appreciate that. We want to go out there and win the game and he gives us a chance to do that.”Not everyone adheres to the charts quite like Reich.“I think you have to have a great feel for what’s going on in the game. How is that game going? How did the opponent decide to play you? Are they playing you in this type of defense or that type of defense or are they trying to attack your defense with these certain plays?” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “I think charts are great and they help you prepare, but at the end of the day, how is that particular game being played on game day is what’s most important.”Reich understands, even acknowledges, that sometimes coaches need to play a hunch or rely on their gut instinct. He’s done it, too.Even so, Reich believes there is power in numbers.“This is preparation, thought and detail that go into it. It’s not robotic” Reich said, citing his decision to punt on fourth-and-1 Sunday when the chart said to go for it. “What the analytics tell us is that historical coaching philosophy has been a little bit conservative and that there are reasons to consider being more aggressive. Then you have to have the maturity and wisdom to interpret the chart the way that you think is best for your team. That’s the art of it.”