The good news, people, is that quarterback Andrew Luck’s shoulder injury is not career-threatening. The Indianapolis Colts say so, and let’s be optimistic here:

They have to be right, eventually.

When it comes to Luck’s shoulder, the Colts have been wrong every step of the way since September 2015. That’s when his injury first sidelined him, causing him to miss two games. Here we are, 26 months later, and only now are the Colts putting Luck on injured reserve. He hasn’t played in 2017. He won’t play in 2017. Andrew Luck has the largest contract in Colts history, what was once the largest contract in NFL history, and he won’t play a down of football in 2017 …

… because of an injury that happened in 2015.

Incompetent? Oh, that’s not even a question. Of course the Colts are incompetent.

That’s not a word the Colts would use, obviously. They prefer "optimistic."

“We all were optimistic that this was going to work out sooner than later,” says first-year general manager Chris Ballard, who inherited this mess and now is the poor sap trying to explain it. “But unfortunately the human body — everybody’s human body is different and we are where we are. There’s not much we can do about it.”

Can you imagine being an NFL free agent after this season and choosing to play for a team so, um, optimistic that it botched its quarterback position — and its quarterback — as badly as this one? Owner Jim Irsay uttered these words in October 2016, when Luck was on the injury report weekly with a shoulder injury that was a year old at that point. “He is fine,” Irsay said, “and the shoulder is something that just disappears into the woodwork when he wins his next MVP or when he wins a Super Bowl.”

The shoulder disappears into the woodwork when he wins MVP …

Where’s that eyeroll emoji? No, wait, where’s that little green-faced guy? Because I think I’m going to be sick.

That’s the mentality, those words from Irsay, the Colts have had throughout this saga. They replaced critical thinking with wishful thinking, and it started in 2015 when Luck was terrible for the first three games (five touchdowns, seven interceptions, passer rating of 65.1) and then was inactive for two games with shoulder pain.

Along with shoulder soreness, Luck also was playing with sore ribs. When I asked Luck point-blank in 2015 if any of his ribs were broken, he wouldn’t answer. After the season we learned how the Colts treated their franchise quarterback: by shooting him up with pain-killing injections and sending this generational talent — once considered the best QB prospect since John Elway — back onto the field.

To repeat: The Colts sent Andrew Luck, whose shoulder was sore — and whose throwing motion was potentially compromised by pain in his ribs — back onto the field. What could possibly go wrong?

The Colts had a chance to fix this situation four weeks later when Luck was badly injured against Denver, suffering a lacerated kidney that should have shut him down for the season. But this being the Colts, they didn’t place him on injured reserve in 2015. No, they dug deep into their pile of wishful thinking and pulled out this doozy: Maybe they could reach the 2015 playoffs and put Luck back onto the field for a Super Bowl run.

A well-run franchise shuts down Luck after the Denver game on Nov. 8, 2015, and orders surgery on his shoulder. That would have given him almost 10 months to rest, recuperate and rehabilitate before the 2016 season opener.

But, no. The 2015 Colts were not well-run. They strung him along, missed the 2015 playoffs, gave Luck what was at the time the richest contract in NFL history, and then let him go into the 2016 season with a shoulder so sore, he couldn’t throw every day in practice starting from the first week of the 2016 season.

That October the Colts were in London for their fourth game of 2016. Irsay was asked about Luck’s shoulder. Here’s what he said:

“There isn’t some kind of chronic shoulder injury or anything like that, I promise you,” Irsay said. “There are no surgeries planned.”

Not a chronic injury. A shoulder that had been sore for 12 months. Not chronic.

Quick, give me that eyeroll emoji, stat! Or that green-faced little guy. Because I’m about to puke.

Meanwhile, weeks came and went with Luck on the official NFL injury report and not throwing in practice because the shoulder was too sore. Luck allowed this to happen to himself, yes he did, and he bears some responsibility. But if we’re ranking the people who screwed up in 2015 and '16, it goes like this:

One, coach Chuck Pagano and then-General Manager Ryan Grigson. They allowed Luck to play rather than shut him down. Their jobs were on the line. Did that impact their thinking, even subconsciously? Looks that way to me.

Two, Jim Irsay. He didn’t see what was happening, because he was too busy seeing what he wanted to see. Must be nice to go through life as a billionaire dreamer. Write another check, Jim. Life just sort of works out, doesn't it?

Three, Luck. He’s stubborn and competitive, the kind of player who has to be saved from himself. Alas, his bosses weren’t up to the challenge.

Only when the 2016 season ended, after the Colts just missed a playoff berth, did Luck make a decision on his own: Maybe I do need surgery.

But even then, wishful thinking ruled the day. In January 2017 Jim Irsay announced Luck’s surgery on Twitter, punctuating the bad news like so: Will be ready for season!

No need for emojis, thanks. My eyes are doing the rolling. My stomach is doing the heaving.

What has happened since the surgery, frankly, has been an indictment of the franchise at its highest levels. The general manager (now Ballard) and coach (Pagano) who decided Scott Tolzien was a better Luck replacement than Stephen Morris.

The owner who kept referencing “the four inches between Luck’s ears,” as if years of Colts incompetence weren’t the issue here. No, the problem was Luck. He’s a head case.

Colts doctors and medical staff, because … damn. Have you folks done anything right?

So here we are, with Luck being shut down for the season in November 2017 for an injury that happened in September 2015. The franchise has handled his injury so poorly, there are fans who honestly believe the Colts have always known Luck wouldn’t play this season, but lied to sell tickets.

Do I believe the Colts lied about Luck’s injury? Nope. Do not. This franchise isn’t deceitful.

It’s too incompetent to be deceitful.

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter: @GreggDoyelStar or at facebook.com/gregg.doyel.

More:

Andrew Luck placed on injured reserve and will not play this season

Andrew Luck’s injury timeline: How Colts’ QB went from surgery to IR

What Irsay, Pagano, Ballard have said about Andrew Luck's injury