Andrew Luck remains unsigned.
Should the Colts worry?
The rookie quarterback and No. 1 NFL draft pick has yet to master the Indianapolis playbook.
Is this a problem?
Luck threw football with Indianapolis kids Tuesday afternoon outside of Lucas Oil Stadium rather than being inside throwing with, say, fellow rookie Coby Fleener.
Is Luck passing on the NFL for a community service gig?
Take a deep breath.
It's just over a month before the Colts open training camp, and if minor questions take on major urgency, it's no big deal. Progress is being made. The learning curve is lessening.
“He definitely has that IT factor,” veteran receiver Reggie Wayne said. “He knows what's going on. It might be in his head, but he has it.”
The quarterback transition from Peyton Manning to Luck was never going to be swift or easy. Take the art of building teammate relationships. Luck needs plenty of time with the receivers. He'll do what he has to do to get with Wayne and fellow veteran Austin Collie in the next few weeks. For now, he works with the rookies, who are allowed to continue working out at the team facilities for another week.
Luck is behind because he missed most of last month's organized workouts to finish his academic obligations at Stanford. Now that he's graduated and a full-time NFL player, he's trying to make up for lost time.
“You don't want to press, over-press or burn out,” Luck said. “You have to play catch-up a little bit to get those reps before training camp. It will be an interesting process getting to that point with all the receivers, not just Reggie and Collie.”
Tuesday's process saw Luck and the 24 other Colts rookies participate in a youth program at a neighborhood center just south of Lucas Oil Stadium. That was a break from the 10 or so hours each day the players are putting in on football.
Luck continues to impress Colts coach Chuck Pagano, who doesn't want the quarterback rushing too fast for his own good. Pagano's message is clear:
“Don't press,” he said. “Do what you do. Do what you've been doing for your whole life.”
As for the whole compare-Luck-with-Manning thing, don't bother Collie with it.
“It's time to move on from that,” he said. “We're focused on moving on and what we're working with now. That doesn't cross my mind at all.”
Luck is now one of three Colts quarterbacks along with Drew Stanton and Chandler Harnish, the former Norwell and Northern Illinois standout. The Colts cut two quarterbacks in Hampton's David Legree and Texas-El Paso's Trevor Vittaloe.
As far as Luck's contract, figure it will get done soon (he can't report to training camp –- it starts July 28 in Anderson -- unless he's signed) and will be a bit better than the four-year, $22 million guaranteed deal (with a $14.5 million bonus) last year's No. 1 pick, Carolina quarterback Cam Newton, signed under the new rookie salary scale.
Luck is letting his agent, Will Wilson, handle the negotiations. He's got plenty of football work to do.
Two other Colts draft picks –- Fleener, a second-round tight end, and third-round tight end Dwayne Allen –- also remain unsigned.
Luck thrived in Stanford's pro-style attack that gave him audible freedom at the line of scrimmage. How much that will help with the new Colts offense remains uncertain.
“There's not much carryover in terms of words,” Luck said. “Stanford put multiple plays on our plate, so having to check to stuff will help with being able to process things at the line of scrimmage.
“I realize this is the NFL, and everything is going to happen faster. It will be more complicated. Still, there are only so many concepts you can run in football. It's similar concepts, just different words. I'm trying to find that recognition that this term means that or it's the same thing as this.
“It's fun as well as challenging.”
Fleener relates to that challenge. Like Luck, he's a rookie out of Stanford adjusting to a new, complex world.
“Learning a NFL playbook is not more daunting (than learning a college playbook),” he said. “It's just learning a new language. It's the same concepts, just in different words.
“But the playbook is the biggest and most important thing for me to learn. I still have no idea where I am in Indianapolis. Just jump on the shuttle and it takes me to and from where I live.”
