Andrew Luck could miss Sunday Night Football showdown vs. Seahawks

When the NFL schedule makers placed the Indianapolis Colts at Seattle Seahawks matchup on Sunday Night Football, the main storyline was the highly-anticipated quarterback duel between Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson. It’d be Luck’s first game at CenturyLink Field and also a chance for the Seahawks to even the score with Indianapolis, who handed Seattle one of its three defeats in the 2013 season.

There’s a real possibility that Luck vs. Wilson will not be happening this year.

Luck is currently on the preseason Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list after he had surgery on his partially torn labrum on his right shoulder, and according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, he’s “heard plenty of rumblings about [Luck] starting the [regular season] on the physically unable to perform list.”

If this does happen, Luck would miss the first six games, which would include the week 4 meeting at Seattle. In fact, the entire NFC West plays Indy by week 5, so everyone in the division is in line to play not-Andrew Luck at quarterback. The Colts haven’t seen him throw at all this offseason, and there’s no timetable for his return. The surgery was done in early January, and the typical recovery period is 6-9 months.

Indianapolis’ current backups are Scott Tolzien (who would be the presumptive starter if Luck is out), Stephen Morris, and undrafted rookie Phillip Walker. If Tolzien is the guy for the Colts on the night of October 1st, then at least Tolzien vs. Wilson becomes “Battle of the former Wisconsin Badgers.”