INDIANAPOLIS -- Colts head coach Frank Reich said the team is fine if franchise quarterback Andrew Luck misses the rest of OTAs and their mandatory three-day minicamp next week because of a lingering calf strain, despite hopes that Luck would be fully healthy in the offseason for the first time since 2014.
Luck suffered the calf injury prior to the start of OTAs more than two weeks ago.
"I'm hoping he'll be out there next week [for minicamp]," Reich said. "If this plays out that we don't take a snap it's OK. It's not a big news story as far as a team and what we're doing offensively. Am I anticipating him out there? I'm not anticipating anything. ... Hopefully we get some work next week and make more progress. I think every week we've made more progress and I feel confident where we're at right now."
Luck's offseason since 2016 had centered around his right shoulder, which he injured in Week 3 of the 2015 season. He had surgery in January 2017 and missed all of the following season and didn't take part in offseason activities until minicamp in June 2018.
The Colts will break for about six weeks after minicamp ends next week. Reich said last week that Luck would be able to play through the calf injury if this were the regular season. But with it being just the offseason, the team is taking a more cautious approach to ensure that Luck, the 2018 NFL Comeback Player of the Year after throwing for 4,593 yards and 39 touchdowns, is ready for the start of training camp in late July.
Backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett has been working with the first-team offense in Luck's absence.
"It's killing him," Reich said of Luck's absence. "He could be out there, but you have to take these things serious. You have to trust it. What I've learned, especially after going through what we did last year, trust people and trust the process. I trust Andrew, I trust the process of everybody in the building we've got working on it."