WESTFIELD Indianapolis Colts T-Shirts , Ind. — A strained calf prevented Andrew Luck from throwing at the Indianapolis Colts’ offseason workouts.Unlike the past two summers, nobody at training camp seems terribly worried.General manager Chris Ballard said Wednesday the Colts will limit the work of Luck and a handful of his teammates as a precaution when practice begins Thursday.“He didn’t do anything this spring and we don’t want him to have a setback,” Ballard said after the Colts reported to their complex in Westfield, a northwestern suburb of Indianapolis. “We’re just making sure we’re taking all the right steps with him and with all of these guys.”The other players on that list include tight ends Jack Doyle and Ross Travis, starting safety Clayton Geathers and receiver Deon Cain, all coming back from injuries. Second-year receiver Daurice Fountain could miss a few days, too, after rolling an ankle during a private workout. Running back Spencer Ware has been placed on the physically unable to perform list with an undisclosed muscle injury.Previously, Ballard said second-year coach Frank Reich also would give extra days off to older veterans such as longtime left tackle Anthony Castonzo and defensive end Justin Houston, a free agent signee. And the Colts intend to be especially cautious with players during the first week of camp, when Ballard said data show most injuries occur.Outsiders don’t appear to be worried. With expectations of the Colts making a deep playoff run soaring, players are downplaying the talk and focusing on what they need to get done over the next three weeks at Grand Park Sports Campus.“We always talk about blocking out the noise,” All-Pro linebacker Darius Leonard said. “I just have a laser focus, so I’m coming in with the same mentality as last year.”There is good reason for hope.After missing the entire 2017 season following surgery on his throwing shoulder, Luck returned last year and led the Colts to their first playoff appearance in four years. He delivered with perhaps the best season of his seven-year career and ran away with the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award.Many believe he’ll be even better in his second season in coach Frank Reich’s offense and playing behind a young offensive line that brings back all five starters from a unit that allowed a league-low 18 sacks in 2018.“Andrew has really been able to have even more input into the system this year in the meetings and putting his imprint on what we are doing now https://www.coltsfanshop.com/hats , knowing what he likes, what he doesn’t like, and why he likes what he likes within our system,” Reich said during the team’s three-day minicamp in June. “I think it has taken the meetings to a higher level.”Luck and Reich did not speak Wednesday, though Luck is expected to return to the field Thursday.But older Colts have been seen this play out before.Following an AFC championship game loss in January 2015, many prognosticators tabbed the Colts as a Super Bowl favorite heading into the 2015 season. Instead, Luck missed nine games with myriad injuries and finished the season on injured reserve as the Colts stumbled to an 8-8 record and failed to make the playoffs.A year later, Ballard joined the team following the firing of Ryan Grigson. Last year, Reich replaced the fired Chuck Pagano.Luck and Co. have not forgotten what went wrong and may be wary of buying into the hype again. Ballard embraces the chatter.“Expectations are a good thing, not a bad thing. That’s a good thing,” he said. “But every year is a new year, it just is. We don’t want to be a momentum team, we want to continue to work and get better.”100<button class="view-gallery">View Gallery</button> Gallery:View from the sidelines: NFL cheerleaders 2018Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports | Raj Mehta INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — When the Indianapolis Colts were struggling in mid-October, coach Frank Reich saw signs of a turnaround brewing.He urged players and coaches to stay the course, asked fans to believe in the plan and pleaded for patience as the young Colts got acclimated to a new system Indianapolis Colts Hoodie , a new staff and a new mindset.Two months later, Reich’s message remains essentially unchanged — even with the Colts on the precipice of making their first playoff appearance in four years.“I haven’t even thought about it in those terms because I really just think — we’re just convinced that the best way is not to weight the importance of it (the game) but to weight the importance of practice and the everyday process,” Reich said Monday about this week’s high-stakes game.“I certainly understand all the outside variables and all the other things that everybody else would look at, but from inside out, really the healthiest approach for us is to keep doing what we are doing.”And why not given Indy’s results?Since the Jets beat Indy 42-34 on Oct. 14, New York has one win — hardly a surprise for a struggling team with a rookie quarterback.But Andrew Luck and the Colts have won eight of nine to jump back into the playoff hunt and could become the third team in league history to make the postseason after starting 1-5.A win at Tennessee (9-6) on Sunday night would give the Colts a wild-card spot and a win, coupled with a Jacksonville (5-10) victory at Houston (10-5), would give Indy the AFC South title and a first-round home game.Reich might be the only one who truly believed it could happen when Indy was ranked No. 30 in the AP Pro 32 after losing to the Jets.“It doesn’t take much even within a season,” Reich said Monday. “When I was a player (in Buffalo) I think we went from 2-14 to 4-12 and then I think we were 8-7 and then 12-4.“In Philadelphia, we were 7-9 and then won the Super Bowl. What I’ve noticed is it’s two things. It’s playing good football, playing good football and establishing your identity and then just building the core players. You play good football. You make fewer mistakes and you find a way to be aggressive, but still play good football. That leads to better playmaking.”His philosophy certainly worked for the Colts (9-6).Indy’s rebuilt offensive line has kept Andrew Luck upright and allowed him to produce at the highest level of his career. He’s already established single-season bests in completions (406) and completion rate (67.2 percent) and needs 453 yards and four TD passes against the Titans to establish career highs in those categories, too. He’s also been sacked 17 times, the lowest total of any season he’s started at least half of the Colts’ games.Running back Marlon Mack has topped the 100-yard mark three times this season while receiver T.Y. Hilton and a handful of tight ends have performed at Pro Bowl levels, giving Indy’s offense the balance it’s long sought.The defense finds itself just outside the top 10 and has consistently forced turnovers and pressured quarterbacks even with key players out.In Sunday’s victory Khari Willis Jersey , Indy managed to hold Giants rookie Saquon Barkley to 43 yards rushing and 77 yards from scrimmage despite playing without middle linebacker Anthony Walker (shoulder), starting safety Clayton Geathers (knee) or defensive tackle Al Woods (foot), who was placed on injured reserve last week. Reich said he’s not sure if Walker or Geathers will practice Wednesday when the Colts return to the field.He’s also uncertain about the status of starting center Ryan Kelly (neck) or starting tight end Eric Ebron (concussion).But if Reich’s calm, consistent approach has taught the Colts anything, it’s this: The best results come when you stick to the plan.“The only thing you can do is make sure one, do your job to the best of your ability, and you’ve got to start there,” said Luck, who is 10-0 as a starter against Tennessee.“When things are going tough, bring it back and bring it simple, stay calm and do your job. I hold that to heart. I think we all, especially at halftime (Sunday), just focused on doing our job, playing our piece of the puzzle and it managed to work out.”