Around the NFL: Colts to be Luckless against Rams

Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck will miss the season opener Sunday against the Rams and remains out indefinitely, Colts general manager Chris Ballard said Monday.

Luck hasn’t taken a snap or thrown to a teammate since having surgery in January to repair a partially torn labrum in his right shoulder. He rehabbed during the Colts’ offseason workouts and spent all of training camp and the preseason on the physically unable to perform list. He was finally activated Saturday and cleared to practice.

While Ballard didn’t set a timetable for the franchise quarterback’s return, it seems likely it will be sooner than the six to eight weeks he would have missed had he stayed on the PUP list.

For now, veteran backup Scott Tolzien inherits the starting job. He’s 0-2-1 as an NFL starter. New quarterback Jacoby Brissett will spend this week cramming after being acquired in a trade Saturday that sent receiver Phillip Dorsett, the Colts’ 2015 first-round draft pick, to New England.

Beckham a mystery

The New York Giants are keeping everyone guessing about star receiver Odell Beckham’s status for the opener against Dallas.

Beckham, who has not practiced since spraining his left ankle in a preseason game on Aug. 21, rode a stationary bike during the portion of practice that was open to the media as the Giants started preparing for Sunday night’s game.

Coach Ben McAdoo was vague about the three-time Pro Bowler, declining to say whether Beckham has even started running.

Bell finally signs

Le’Veon Bell officially signed his franchise tender with Pittsburgh that makes him the NFL’s highest-paid running back, although the one-year, $12.1-million deal wasn’t the lucrative long-term contract he was seeking when he refused to report to the Steelers until less than a week before the season opener.

“I didn’t want to get hurt in camp,” he said after completing his first practice with his teammates since January. “I wanted to get here, get ready for games that count.”

Bell offered no specifics about why he and the Steelers were unable to reach an agreement, and said he wasn’t sure where a report that indicated he nixed a new contract came from.

Etc.

The NFL is considering moving Sunday’s opener between Tampa Bay and the Dolphins in Miami to another site or earlier in the week because of the threat posed by Hurricane Irma, Associated Press reported. . . . Buffalo quarterback Tyrod Taylor returned to practice, the next step in recovering from a concussion, and could be cleared to start the opener against the New York Jets.

Atlanta released defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman two days after he was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list because of domestic violence charges in 2016. . . . The Jets put linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin (back) on injured reserve and re-signed linebacker Bruce Carter. . . . Arizona signed 35-year-old former All-Pro punter Andy Lee and released punter Matt Wile. . . . Tennessee re-signed offensive lineman Brian Schwenke, who started 28 of the 41 games he’s played in with the Titans, and waived center-guard Tim Lelito.