INDIANAPOLIS -- Andrew Luck is retired. He's staying retired. He's not coming back.

During a 75-minute news conference Thursday, Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard made the Luck situation as clear as he could at the start.

"Andrew is retired," Ballard said. "I think we all need to accept that. That’s where he’s at. He’s retired. ... Do I talk to Andrew? Yes I do. Haven’t talked to him here in a few weeks. I’m sure he’s been busy being a father."

Luck became a new father on Nov. 12 last year when his wife, Nicole, gave birth to their daughter, Lucy.

Ballard admitted that Luck's stunning decision to retire didn't truly hit home until a couple of days ago. After Luck told him, just a few weeks before the regular season began, Ballard immediately moved on to preparing his team for the shockwave they were about to absorb.

"I didn’t have time to think about it," Ballard said. "Now I’m just being real and honest, I didn’t have time to think about it when Andrew retired. It was, 'Let’s go. No excuse no explanations.' But I wouldn’t be honest and real with y’all if I didn’t say that when the season ended, I (did) have a moment or two when I thought about it."

The Colts finished 7-9 without Luck. His replacement, Jacoby Brissett, helped get the Colts off to a 5-2 start, but he and the team sputtered down the stretch when Brissett failed to complete better than 60 percent of his passes in the final four games. In that same stretch, he threw just two touchdowns with no interceptions and lost two fumbles.

In his first season starting in Frank Reich's system, Brissett started 15 games and finished with 2,942 yards, 18 touchdowns, six interceptions, 6.6 yards per attempt, a 60.9% completion rate and 88.0 passer rating — 18th among qualified quarterbacks.

In Luck's first season under Reich, he started 16 games and finished with 4,593 yards, 39 touchdowns, 15 interceptions, 7.2 YPA, a 67.3% completion rate and a 98.7 passer rating -- 11th in the NFL. The Colts went 10-6 last year and won their Wild Card game over the Texans before falling to the Chiefs in the divisional round.

This year, the Colts season came to an early end, and questions surround the future of the quarterback position. However, Ballard made it abundantly clear that the answer to those questions will not be Andrew Luck.

Follow IndyStar Colts Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: @jimayello.

Follow IndyStar Colts Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: @jimayello.