The whole thing seems kind of ridiculous and IMO it started when Irsay said they decided not to have the surgery done when he missed all those games due to the lacerated kidney issue because they thought time would heal it. Since the surgery the secrecy that involved some of the most cryptic bullshit from all the main characters has contributed to the Colts beginning to look like an organization that could rival others for being dysfunctional.

Yep.

We do look childish. It's discouraging to hear the local guys all sort of provide cover for all this clandestine BS from the team (though DD and Kravitz both seemed to sink their teeth into the very latest from Irsay with the interview last week where he explained that Luck will only come back when he is ready to come back--- no shit Jim!).

Nationally they take a fair amount of heat for how this whole Luck thing has been handled and rightfully so. I read one article flat out calling Irsay a liar in regards to Luck's health simply to prevent a collapse of the ticket base- and sadly I am not so sure I don't ascribe to that notion. What's the downside for Irsay if he keeps the spirits up by falsely claiming he's gonna play somewhere between weeks 1 and 6 but he doesn't? So we lose the 53rd man from the roster- so what. However if the buying public knows Luck is not going to be on the field, look at that home schedule during that time- those games become near pre-season games from the public's perspective. Sure some will turn out for Bruce's return the 2nd week, but Cleveland, the 9ers, the Jags? TV coverage would not be able to hide the stupid level of empty seats for those games. So I can buy into this premise that Jim knows Luck is not playing, potentially much deeper into the season if at all, but just can't bring himself to tell the world that for support reasons.

To me this is on par with both the disasters that were the Edge and Bob injury situations. The team managed to mangle both of those situations. As great as Edge was and as instrumental as Bob was to bringing home a title- you can replace those positions quickly and the fall off is not that significant, a once a generation QB- not so much.

One thing people fail to realize where Irsay is concerned, is that he's seen how all of this plays out before, when the franchise QB, has a severe shoulder injury and is allowed to be rushed back into action before he was healthy.

Bert Jones.

Bert Jones shoulder injury in 1978 basically ruined his career and ruined the hopes of another lackluster franchise (Baltimore Colts) for years to come.

You think Irsay wants to see that scenario played out again, under his watch? That's why he's pushing Luck to take it slow and not come back until it's a virtual certainty that not only will Luck be better, but he will not suffer any setbacks or risk of re-injury.

I also do believe that Irsay IS keeping Pags at arms length away from Luck, so that Pags won't be trying to convince Luck to come back too soon.

Do I believe that Pags has not seen Luck throw? Of course not. In fact I believe that he's seen enough that he thinks Luck could come back now.

But Irsay is pulling the strings, and you can see the frustration from Pags because of it. He knows that he can't coach this team to save his job without Luck.

I'm hoping that even Luck coming back won't save Pagano's job !!

I don't think Ballard is that dumb.

I still think Ballard agreed to roll with Chuck this year only after he realized how bad the roster was and how long it would take to fix it.

You are probably right, but installing a new system this year knowing that the team would suck,instead of waiting until next year, IMHO would have been the way to go.

How do you install a new offense when the QB can't participate? That's why the move wasn't made.

The only way Pagano saves his job is by going to the playoffs, and that ain't happennin'.

He can learn. Just can't put it on the field in practice. I don't buy this argument