INDIANAPOLIS -- In most instances, a head coach could use the loss of his starting quarterback as a crutch for an unsuccessful season.

This isn't such an instance for Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano.

Pagano's status likely isn't going to depend on Andrew Luck's availability. Colts management, especially general manager Chris Ballard, has known about Luck's status for this season -- whether he was going to miss one or multiple games -- for some time.

Ballard, the team's first-year general manager, isn't only evaluating the roster. He's also keeping a close eye on the job Pagano does in developing players, especially the young ones, and putting a competitive team on the field on a game-by-game basis.

The news of Luck being shut down from practicing for the time being, after receiving a cortisone shot in his right shoulder, just makes things more difficult for Pagano.

"I mean, we'd love to have him back, but he's not," Pagano said. "Jacoby [Brissett] is here and the offense is here and the defense is here. Our focus is on Jacksonville and Jacksonville only, and our preparation for that. When he's back, he's back. But until that point, we've got to focus on the task at hand, and that's preparing for this game. If we do anything different, then we're setting ourselves up."

The youth, especially rookies Malik Hooker and Marlon Mack, is coming along, but Pagano continues to fail when it comes to the Colts being competitive for a full game. That's not a good sign for Pagano's future.

The latest bad sign came Monday, when the Colts blew a 10-point lead in the second half and ended up losing 36-22 to the Tennessee Titans. It marked the fifth straight game in which the Colts have been tied or led at halftime. They lost three of those five games. The Colts have been outscored 136-44 in the second half of games, including 95-22 in the fourth quarter, this season.

"I think we all are frustrated by that, and that's something that we've got to continue to work through," Ballard said. "We've played some really good halves of football, and we've got to be able to put 60 minutes together. And I think over time it's just the way you practice, the way you perform daily and then doing it once or twice -- get some confidence to where you can finish those games out the way we do. And we need to be better finishers. Our team knows it, our staff knows, we know it as an organization."

The current second-half debacles, combined with back-to-back 8-8 seasons in which the Colts missed the playoffs, will make things murky when it comes to Pagano and his future.