Early in the week, the Indianapolis Colts stressed that despite appearing on the injury report, Andrew Luck was fine and they felt confident he would play in Week 4. However, that is suddenly looking less and less questionable as the Colts have signed a veteran quarterback to add to the roster. Does that mean the quarterback is out Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars?
The Colts announced via NFL.com that they have signed Josh Johnson to the roster as a third quarterback heading into Week 4. That does not lend itself to optimism around Luck's status. Dealing with a shoulder injury, Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star reports that the quarterback's status for Sunday is "legitimately questionable" and the Colts are preparing to start Matt Hasselbeck against the Jaguars. Luck has been limited in both practices this week and the Colts might not want to take the risk of starting him against the Jaguars.
In his place, Hasselbeck would be making his first start since Nov. 4, 2012 when he played for the Tennessee Titans. The veteran quarterback has been on the Colts' roster since Luck was drafted, but was never needed as the quarterback has never missed a start since arriving with the team. Hasselbeck made it clear that he is ready to play if needed.
"The quarterback, or me, if they knew they were going to be playing, you would probably have a conversation with the play caller, the offensive coordinator and say things like, "This is what I really like.' Or the coordinator might say, 'Hey, do you like this or like that?' We haven't really had any of those conversations," Hasselbeck said, via ESPN.com.
If it is Hasselbeck under center, the offense could very well be run first and Frank Gore could be getting a lot of carries. The quarterback has thrown exactly 56 passes in the past two seasons and might not be aiming to throw the ball right away against the Jaguars. Although, considering the Jacksonville's defense, Hasselbeck will be able to run a balanced offense. Shorter throws to TY Hilton and Donte Moncrief could be options while tight end Coby Fleener could see more targets over the middle. It is hard to make a call on what kind of performance Hasselbeck would put on since he has not been seen under center for awhile now.
