Luck throws two TDs in preseason debut
It did not take long for Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck to throw his first touchdown pass.
The No. 1 overall draft pick hit running back Donald Brown for a 63-yard TD on his first pass attempt of the preseason on Sunday during the Colts' 38-3 rout of the St. Louis Rams. It was reminiscent of Peyton Manning, who threw a touchdown pass on his first attempt in his first preseason game with the Colts in 1998.
Luck took 24 snaps in his debut, completing 10 of 16 passes for 188 yards with two touchdowns. The Colts scored three touchdowns in four possessions Luck was under center.
"He's something special, to come in here and keep his composure like he did," wide receiver Austin Collie said. "Again it's the preseason but he did a great job."
Coach Chuck Pagano was impressed with Luck's first live action as a pro.
"When it's live action, and he doesn't have the red jersey on, he was wearing white today, so it was full go. He knew he was a target," Pagano said. "I know we picked him up off the turf a couple times, but he's a big, strong, athletic guy and he can take a hit. We don't want him taking too many. But to see him perform, and do the things that he did under pressure, you know they hadn't shown that in the preseason before, and they got after him a little bit and I thought he handled it well."
Luck was pleased, but he knows things will be different in the regular season.
"I realize, like all of the guys in the locker room realize, that this is a preseason game and let's not get too excited about anything because nobody goes back and looks at the preseason record for anything," Luck said. "But to get out here and put some good stuff on film is definitely (good)."
On Luck's first touchdown, most of the heavy lifting was done by Brown.
Luck threw a shovel pass behind the line of scrimmage less than five yards to Brown, who caught it and ran the rest of the way untouched to give the Colts a 7-0 lead.
"It was probably the easiest touchdown pass I'll ever have in my life," Luck said. "I threw it maybe three yards in the air and what a great job by Donald (Brown) and the (offensive line), tight ends, Reggie (Wayne) was the receiver in there blocking downfield so it was nice to put points on the board in the first play."
Chandler Harnish, the Colts' No. 3 quarterback, completed all three of his passes for 52 yards and a touchdown. He knows the focus is on Luck, though, and was not surprised by Luck's performance.
"Nothing's changed," Harnish said. "He does it every day in practice. He's so efficient and just makes all the right reads and the right checks and because of that, it makes me better and it makes Drew [Stanton] better because we get a chance to learn from him. He's just an unbelievable player and following him he's going to lead this team to the promise land, I really feel it."
