INDIANAPOLIS — Andrew Luck might be playing the best football

of his career. But he’ll still need help reaching the playoffs with mounting injuries threatening to derail the Indianapolis Colts‘ late postseason push.One week after starting center Ryan Kelly went down with a left knee injury and one day after coach Frank Reich announced tight end Jack Doyle would miss the rest of the season with an injured kidney https://www.coltsfanshop.com , Luck and his teammates started preparing for the closing five-game stretch that will determine whether they end a three-year playoff drought.“We’ve done it before,” tight end Eric Ebron said Tuesday when asked about the adjustments. “Everybody has to take on a heavier workload.”Doyle was injured late in the third quarter or early in the fourth, returned for two plays before leaving for good and then wound up in the hospital Sunday night for what Reich called a “procedure.”The team provided no immediate update during Tuesday’s availability on whether Doyle had been released from the hospital.The adaptations start with Ebron, the lone remaining healthy tight end among the five listed on last week’s depth chart. He’s already caught 11 touchdown passes this season, matching his previous four-year total and tying Dallas Clark’s single-season franchise record by a tight end, and has played the way Detroit envisioned when it made Ebron a first-round draft pick in 2014.It’s unclear whether Mo Alie-Cox, Ryan Hewitt or Erik Swoope could return from injuries this week. All three were inactive last weekend, and Reich’s offense has benefited from creating mismatches among the tight ends.“We are hopeful and optimistic that some of those guys — one or two or all three of those guys — will be ready,” Reich said Monday. “They have been making good progress.”But the hits have come hard and fast for Indy (6-5), which has won five straight to jump back into the playoff conversation.Kelly missed last week’s game with a sprained medial collateral ligament and without him, the Colts allowed their first sack in six games. Luck went 249 consecutive drop-backs without being sacked, the longest streak of his pro career.Kelly’s status for this week is still to be determined, though he said Tuesday he felt much better and was running on the treadmill.“It’s been progressing pretty well,” said Kelly, who was replaced in the lineup by midseason signee Evan Boehm. “The brace has helped.”Not enough?Running back Marlon Mack entered the concussion protocol during the fourth quarter Sunday, did not return and now his status also is in doubt this weekend.If he can’t go Indianapolis Colts Customized Jerseys , the Colts will be down to their two rookies — Nyheim Hines and Jordan Wilkins — and possibly Jonathan Williams, presuming nobody else is signed. Williams hasn’t played since Indy signed him to the practice squad Oct. 2. He was promoted to the active roster last week.One saving grace for Indy: Rookie linebacker Darius Leonard escaped a serious knee injury that briefly knocked him out of Sunday’s game after the first offensive play. Leonard returned and finished the game and continues to lead the NFL with 114 tackles despite missing one game in October.But losing Doyle might be most damaging for Indy.He followed his first Pro Bowl selection with 26 receptions for 245 yards and two touchdowns in six games. The Colts went 1-4 when he missed five games earlier this season with a bad hip, and they had won all four since his Week 8 return against Oakland.Doyle’s absence leaves a big hole on the field — and in the locker room.“It hurts,” Ebron said. “I’m more hurt because of the type of player he is and what he means to the team and to me. But we’ve done it before. We just have to adjust a few things.”100<button class="view-gallery">View Gallery</button> Gallery:View from the sidelines: NFL cheerleaders 2018Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports | Raj Mehta INDIANAPOLIS — Andrew Luck started Sunday by carving up Jacksonville’s staunch defense.He finished it by playing the eager spectator.After throwing three first-half touchdown passes and picking up only two first downs in the second half, he celebrated when the Indianapolis Colts‘ defense delivered the decisive turnover with 90 seconds left to preserve a 29-26 victory over the Jaguars.“We played well enough in the first half to put some points on the board,” Luck said. “Then we survived.”Barely survived, that is.Trailing by three, Jacksonville quickly marched from its 42-yard line into field goal range, and when Rashad Greene Sr. went down at the Colts’ 23, it looked like the Jaguars were already set up for at least a tying field goal. Initially, Greene was ruled down before the ball squirted out.But just before the Jags (3-6) ran the next play, the whistles blew for a booth review. A few minutes later, the call was overturned, giving the ball and the game to the Colts, who have won three straight for the first time in three years.“I thought we got the play off, but obviously Indianapolis Colts T-Shirts , we didn’t,” Jags coach Doug Marrone said before elaborating later. “Personally, I thought it wasn’t a fumble. But I see what everybody sees from the sideline.”Last year’s AFC runner-ups were a popular preseason pick to dethrone New England. Instead, the Jags have lost five straight, six of seven and are last in the division.And they don’t get more painful than this.Jacksonville had an extra point blocked and nearly returned for a 2-point conversion in the first half.Two 15-yard penalties helped Indy score its fourth touchdown, a 1-yard pass from Luck to Mo Alie-Cox late in the second quarter. An offside call on the ensuing extra point prompted coach Frank Reich to go for two, which Marlon Mack punched it in to make it 29-13.Jacksonville kicker Josh Lambo missed his first field goal of the season, a 52-yarder, wide left in the third quarter but then made a 55-yarder to cut the deficit to three with 4:03 left.Finally, Kenny Moore III sealed the Jags’ fate by ripping the ball away from Greene just before his leg went down and Malik Hooker scooped it up.“Offensively we’re looking to improve, put that thing away,” Reich said. “But make no mistake about it: This was a huge win for us.”Luck started fast, hooking up with Eric Ebron on a 53-yard TD pass seven plays into the game.After Donte Moncrief tied it on an 80-yard scoring play, Ebron answered with a 2-yard TD run to make it 14-7. Luck connected with Ebron again on a 12-yard TD pass, giving the tight end a career-high third score with 9:19 left in the first half.Luck finished 21 of 29 with 285 yards, one interception and was not sacked.Blake Bortles was 26 of 38 with 320 yards and two TD passes while Leonard Fournette had 53 yards rushing https://www.coltsfanshop.com/hats , 56 yards receiving and his first two scores of the season — one on the ground, one through the air.It just wasn’t enough.“It’s a good defense, a lot of respect for that defense,” Luck said. “We certainly weren’t sharp enough.”100<button class="view-gallery">View Gallery</button> Gallery:View from the sidelines: NFL cheerleaders 2018Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports | Raj MehtaINJURY REPORTJaguars: Center Brandon Linder and offensive tackle Ereck Flowers both left in the third quarter with knee injuries.Colts: Defensive end Carroll Phillips left in the first half with an injured groin. Defensive tackle Grover Stewart left with an injured ankle in the fourth quarter. Neither returned.AUTOMATIC ADAMThe Colts honored the NFL’s new career scoring leader, Adam Vinatieri, before the game with a brief highlight film and the distinction of being the last starter introduced to the crowd, which roared.Vinatieri responded by waving to the crowd and slapping hands with some fans on the field. Then he added three more points to his record-breaking total (2,553) before missing a 52-yard attempt wide right with 2:58 left in the game.He also tied George Blanda for the most regular-season wins in league history (209).STAT PACKJaguars: Fournette had 29 touches, 24 carries and five receptions, in his third game this season. … Punter Logan Cooke completed a 4-yard pass on a fake field goal, which kept the Jags’ 17-play drive alive to open the second half. The drive ended with Fournette’s 1-yard TD catch.Colts: Ebron finished with three catches for 69 yards. … Jack Doyle and Alie-Cox, Indy’s other two tight ends, combined for five catches and 64 yards. … Rookie Jordan Wilkins broke free for Indy’s longest run of the season (53 yards) in the first half.UP NEXTJaguars: Jacksonville can snap its losing streak next Sunday when it hosts Pittsburgh.Colts: Could get back into the AFC South race by beating Tennessee at home next Sunday.