AP

During a recent visit to PFT Live, Colts General Manager Chris Ballard said he understands that there’s “still going to be doubt” about quarterback Andrew Luck until he steps on the field for the first week of the 2018 season but that’s not stopping him from looking ahead to life with Luck back in the lineup.

Ballard took questions from the crowd at a fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Zionsville on Thursday and some of them had to do with Luck’s status after missing all of last season with a right shoulder injury. As he did on PFT Live, Ballard said Luck is the healthiest that he’s been since Ballard was in Indianapolis and pointed to something else on his shoulder that’s developed over the last couple of years as a reason for optimism about what’s to come.

“I think it’s a great thing when you have a great player with a chip [on his shoulder] — and we’ve got one,” Ballard said, via the team’s website. “And thats going to be fun for all of us.”

Fun has been in short supply around the Colts in the recent past and that’s led to a slowdown at the box office that the Colts would love to turn around in 2018. Luck’s presence and his play will be essential to that effort, but it remains to be seen if Ballard’s optimism will wind up grounded in reality.