The Colts Offseason Emphasis? Making Sure Andrew Luck Learns To Slide Better

LBS-  “One thing we did talk about internally was to make sure he does have the slide down,” Irsay said, per Mike Wells of ESPN.com. “If we have to bring in a baseball player or baseball coach to talk about sliding. (Seattle quarterback) Russell Wilson is a baseball player, and when he slides, he does it so naturally. Andrew’s struggled a little bit more, but I think that’s just his competitive nature saying, ‘Do I shut it down or get those 2 extra yards?’ His competitive nature just gets to him.

“But he has to stay healthy. That’s part of his legacy. You can’t be a great player in this league if you don’t stay healthy. Everyone knows that. You just can’t. I think about Bob Sanders. What a great, great player. … But those injuries and the shortness of his career, that’s a tough, tough thing.”

“Andrew has the responsibility to make educated decisions to protect himself,” Irsay added. “He knows that, and as we go forward, we want to see him at times slide, throw it away, keep him out of harm’s way. We have to do a better job protecting him, too.”



In a way, I almost respect it. Jim Irsay might be a pill popping, drug sniffing buffoon, but at least he's a self aware pill popping, drug sniffing buffoon. Of course the Colts first concern should be getting Andrew Luck more protection, but they haven't addressed that since he came into the league so why would Irsay believe that his General Manager has any intention of doing it now? That's why you got to make sure that Andrew Luck is capable of protecting himself. Not because that should be the priority, but because nobody else is going to fucking do it. Whatever the case may be, you can't have your franchise quarterback getting hit so many times that his injuries resemble that of a car crash victim, and it turns out that new guards and tackles are way more expensive than sliding lessons. That's just excellent asset management as far as I am concerned. You got legs Andrew. If someone is about to rip your head off from the blindside then use them, and make sure you properly get off of them before a middle linebacker turns your rib cage into the findings from an archeological dig. What's the point of having a athletic versatile quarterback if he can't save you some money on the O-line? 

​Seriously, almost too perfect that Irsay prattled on about Luck learning how to slide, and only slipped in a reference to the offensive line in the last sentence. The offensive line is ALWAYS the last thing the Indianapolis Colts address. 

P.S. Andrew Luck sliding probably could use a little work...