Just weeks after resuming practice, Andrew Luck's path to playing again this season is on hold.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard announced Wednesday that the team's star quarterback is being shut down because of "soreness" in his surgically repaired shoulder.
Ballard emphasized that injured reserve was not an option for Luck, but when asked if the signal-caller would play at all this season, Ballard told reporters: "I don't want to speculate right now. I'm not going to put a timeline on that right now."
Instead, the Colts plan to treat Luck with a cortisone shot and "try [to] shut him down and calm it down for right now."
Ballard told reporters he didn't "think it [would] be long," before Luck returned to practice, but added: "I don't want to give you an exact date."
"Every player is different, every rehab is different, every rehab is different, every surgery is different -- and that's why we haven't put a timeline on this," Ballard said. "Every guy is different. And the good news is Andrew is very in-tune with his body and he's being honest with what's going on, and that's what we want, that's what we need. I don't think anyone in this room can question Andrew Luck's toughness and willingness and ability to go out and play with pain."
The upshot: We have no idea when -- or if -- Luck will take the field during his star-crossed 2017 campaign. For now, Indy rides on with Jacoby Brissett.
