Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is out with a calf injury at the moment and any absence from the lineup calls to mind the right shoulder injury that left him out of action for the entire 2017 season.
When Luck was first getting back into action after that injury, he said he “worked myself into a fairly dark place” during his time away from football. The current injury doesn’t seem to be the same level of severity, but it doesn’t sound like Luck would be going down that road even if it looked like he’d be off the field for a long time.
Luck told Albert Breer of SI.com that his shoulder injury was a “blessing in disguise” because it forced him to reevaluate the value he placed on different parts of his life. He included his relationship with his wife Nicole in that, saying he doesn’t think they’d be married if he had not gone through a process that put football in a different perspective.
“I’d put way too much of my self-worth directly into how I was performing on the football field,” Luck said. “And then I wasn’t on the football field and I felt quite empty. It was very unhealthy, first for me, second for the relationship with my now-wife, and my other relationships. The result has been the best thing that ever could’ve happened. It forced me to look in the mirror and do a character assessment, and address the things I didn’t like and then the things I did like, and then get on the same page with the people I love and respect.”
Luck said that working to be present when he’s away from the team “helped me work harder, work smarter” when he is practicing, watching film or otherwise preparing for games. That worked out well enough for a playoff spot last season and the hope will be that everyone picks up where they left off once Luck is cleared to get back to work this summer.
