The Colts have got to be feeling uneasy today about the start of the 2019 campaign, as not only are they set to face a very good team in the Los Angeles Chargers, but also may be doing it minus the services of starting quarterback Andrew Luck.

Right now the Colts are already underdogs for the battle with the Chargers, and minus Luck you can bet folks will be using a Fanduel PA promotional code to play the Bolts all day long.

There was a strong feeling at first that Lucks’ calf strain suffered way back in March was going to be just fine for the start of the year, but now he’s dealing with a strain that reports say is more in the high ankle area of his left leg.

On Tuesday the General Manager of the Colts, Chris Ballard, was careful not to say too much on the matter, leaving many to speculate on if Luck will be ready to go or not.

“We’re 3½ weeks away from the regular season, I’m not ready to say,” Ballard said on whether Luck will play against the Chargers in the first week of the season.

“From the start we’ve been dealing with a calf injury. In March through camp, dealing with a calf and then little area below his calf, which Andrew kind of referred to as a lower leg where he was dealing with some pain, almost in the ankle area.

“The injury wasn’t getting better and hadn’t been practicing, so in the course of dealing with the calf injury, it appears that now we have an ankle issue.”

As of right now Luck is going to sit out the preseason, giving not only time for his backups to pick up the slack, but more so for his body to feel better.

The reports indicate that there’s no chatter about a surgery for Luck, and that he will just have to keep working at it to get better in order to be able to play.

“There’s enough pain where he’s not practicing,” Ballard said of the quarterback.

“That’s what we have to get under control. Once we get that under control, I think we can really move forward. There’s no question he had a calf [injury]. But the lower part is more of an ankle issue. We get that under control, we can help with the pain.”

For now Colts fans will keep holding their breath, even if Ballard thinks Luck can play at less than 100 percent this upcoming season.

“If he can function, yes,” Ballard said. “If his pain is under control and he can protect himself and play good, yes.”

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Andrew Luck continues to sit out practices due to a nagging calf injury but thinks he will be ready for the regular season, Kevin Patra of NFL.com reports.

The issue has been lingering for three months and doesn’t have a timetable that might suggest when he will be healthy enough to return to practice. Despite the amorphous timeline, the signal-caller isn’t fretting. Luck told Peter King for his Football Morning in America column on Sunday he’s not concerned about being ready for Week 1.

“No,” Luck told King when asked if he was worried about not being ready for the season opener. “I certainly believe I will [be ready]. That’s certainly the goal.”

“At times I do worry about it,” Luck told King. “It can be frustrating. The arc of an injury, whether it’s a big surgical one or something you’re rehabbing through. But no, because I’ve improved. Maybe I’m not improving as fast as I want and missing things is no fun. It eats at you. But I do know at the end of the day if I’m getting the most out of myself, if I’m being the best I can that day, then that’s what I need to do.”

Luck will continue to miss practices, and coach Frank Reich said the team didn’t know when the starting quarterback might be cleared.

While the uncertainty of the situation hangs over the Colts, Reich said he’s not dwelling on Luck’s injury because there’s little utility in agonizing over something he can’t control.

“As a former player and as a coach, it’s just always my instinct to trust the player,” Reich said. “I really don’t lay awake at night thinking about it. When our players have injuries, I’m not the guy who’s asking every five minutes how they’re doing. That’s just the way I am. Part of that is because I think my 14 years of experience as a player … I know he wants to be there as bad as anybody. Me asking him every five minutes how he’s doing doesn’t help anything.”

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