The Colts have already ruled out Andrew Luck for Sunday’s game against the Cardinals, coach Chuck Pagano told reporters on Monday. Pagano added that he does not know if the quarterback will be able to practice this week, further casting doubt on when he will be able to take the field again. 
Scott Tolzien got the start in Week 1 in place of Luck and it was not pretty. Tolzien is now 0-3-1 as a starter in his career after going 9-of-18 on passing attempts for 128 yards with two interceptions. He was also sacked four times behind the Ryan Kelly-less offensive line.
The Colts benched the veteran in favor of recently-acquired QB Jacoby Brissett in the fourth quarter and he ran a successful drive for a touchdown. Although the TD was ultimately meaningless, Brissett’s ability to lead the offense down the field versus Tolzien’s struggles cannot be overlooked. Pagano indicated that the team will consider starting Brissett over Tolzien against Arizona.
Both the Colts and Cardinals will be without their best offensive players when they meet. Arizona learned on Monday that running back David Johnson will be sidelined for an extended period due to his wrist injury.
I don’t understand the Colts at all. Anytime you’ve got a backup QB in your chances of winning go way down, but their chances go to 0% flat because they keep the absolute worst backup QBs possible. They haven’t drafted one since 2012 and historically they keep guys like Orlovsky, Tolzien, Painter, Sorgi, etc as their #2s. I know you don’t want to over-invest in that spot but come on. I don’t know if they could bring in worse backups if they tried!
Apologies for bagging on all those guys, but the Colts really should try to do better.
Well, they did just get brissett. That’s an upgrade for sure.
The problem is the decision makers, whether that was Grigson or Pagano or both. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ballard is purposely putting a barnfire of a QB situation to make it easier to fire Pagano and get his own guy in. The past few years have shown that the Colts have invested too much of their limited resources into RBs, WRs, and TEs. The team needed more O-line help and better players on defense, but the team spent valuable picks/good money on surplus receivers (Dorsett) or old and aging players (Andre Johnson and Frank Gore). I agree about the backup QB situation though. If this was a freak, last minute injury suffered by Luck I would give the team a pass. But the speculation on Luck missing the first game started before the preseason began. That’s more than enough time to get a capable QB, or someone better than Tolzien, into camp and learn the offense.
As a Colts fan, I can’t wait until Pagano is finally ousted.