The star quarterback is coming off a concussion that sidelined him for one game, but he was cleared Saturday to play Monday night against the New York Jets . Luck has been sacked an NFL-leading 35 times this season, and Todd Bowles’ defense will be looking to add to that total in a big way.

”There’s not any special adjustment,” left tackle Anthony Castonzo said. ”We’re always trying to keep him protected. Knowing that he’s coming off a concussion, we don’t want him to get another one, so we just have to tighten up the screws on technique and just make sure you keep your guys away from him.”

Despite having a highly regarded defensive line, the Jets have only 19 sacks. That ties them with San Francisco for 29th in the league, with only Cleveland and Oakland, with 17 each, having fewer.

Indianapolis isn’t taking New York lightly, though. Far from it.

”I think these guys are as good as anybody,” left guard Jack Mewhort said. ”A lot of talented guys, they have played a lot of football and we are aware of that, and we obviously respect that and respect what they have done. We know that these guys have the ability to wreck games.”

Leonard Williams leads New York with six sacks and 22 quarterback hurries in his second season, one of the few bright spots for the Jets (3-8). Opponents are catching on, however, as he has gone four games without taking down the quarterback while facing increased double-teams.

Defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson is in the midst of a disappointing season with 2 1/2 sacks after setting a career high with 12 last year. But he has been dealing with an ailing ankle all season and is questionable to play.

Nose tackle Steve McLendon is second on the team with 3 1/2 sacks, but has been ruled out with a hamstring injury . Sheldon Richardson has just 1 1/2 sacks, but has a team-leading 10 tackles for loss.

”When you look at all our guys, a lot of the things that’s kind of happened when you make plays here or there, they’re getting attention,” defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers said. ”They’re getting double-teamed, protections are a little different, everything. They’re warranting a lot of attention, which they should be, but they’re steady working and we’ll get there.”

The Colts (5-6) have given up 38 sacks, including the three times Scott Tolzien went down last week in place of Luck. Only Cleveland, with 45, has allowed more. It hasn’t helped that Indianapolis has had to use six different line combinations because of injuries.

”They say the O-line has been struggling,” Williams said, ”but mostly what I see is that the majority of the sacks are just from the defense executing blitzes and pressures and stuff like that.”

While the Jets’ sacks totals are modest, they have 89 quarterback hurries and 56 tackles for loss. Over the last six games, New York ranks third in the NFL in opponents’ passer rating (73.8 percent) after placing 31st during the first six games with 114.7 percent.

”They are not a passive defense by any means,” Luck said. ”It’s an aggressive-style defense. Any time in any game, you get blitzes. If you can pick it up, there are less guys in coverages, it is sort of simple. It can be an opportunity for a big play both ways and we’d like to make sure they are big plays in our favor.”

New York’s secondary has struggled most of the season when teams have tested it with deep throws. Darrelle Revis has looked nothing like the shutdown cornerback he once was, and the rest of his fellow defensive backs haven’t been much better.

The Jets have been able to tighten up a bit on passes of more than 20 yards, with opponents going just 6 of 27 with no touchdowns on those throws in the last six games. That’s a far cry from the first six, when teams were 12 of 24 for five scores and an eye-popping 118.1 quarterback rating.

A season-long problem, however, is the lack of forced turnovers. New York has nine takeaways, 29th in the league – and one more than Indianapolis – with none in the last three games. The Jets had 30 last year, which tied them for third best in the NFL.

”Takeaways win games,” cornerback Buster Skrine said, ”and we haven’t been getting them.”

Bowles said his team spends plenty of time practicing takeaways and strips and running turnover drills.

”You try to get them in games,” he said. ”We swipe at the balls. We just haven’t gotten them. Yeah, it’s frustrating because we’ve got to get takeaways, and that’s the biggest difference between this year and last year defensively: not many takeaways.”

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The playoff run begins now for Andrew Luck and Co., with a game Monday night against the lowly New York Jets, who are simply playing out the string in a disappointing season.

Not that the Colts (5-6) are taking the Jets (3-8) lightly. They can’t afford to, not with Houston (6-5) and Tennessee (6-6) ahead of them in the standings entering this weekend.

”This isn’t a deal where you sit there and hope and pray that something else happens,” Colts coach Chuck Pagano said. ”You have to control what you can control and we can control how we handle ourselves. … It’s going to be a huge challenge: on the road, hostile environment, you have weather, crowd noise, you have elements, you have environment, you have all that stuff that you have to deal with.

”Again, there is nothing better than being on that stage and we have to do our part in preparation to get ready to play a good football game.”

After a 28-7 loss to Pittsburgh on Thanksgiving, the Colts will have Luck back under center after he missed the game with a concussion and was replaced by Scott Tolzien . Luck returned to full practice activity earlier in the week and needed only to be cleared by an independent doctor to play Monday night.

”Sitting and watching is no fun,” Luck said. ”Playing is fun. Practicing is fun. Winning is fun.”

That’s something the Jets haven’t done much of this season, although coach Todd Bowles insists that remains the focus for his team. That’s why he’s starting Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback this week despite a growing sentiment that New York should see what it has in Bryce Petty, who was so-so in a spot start three weeks ago when the veteran sat out with a sprained knee.

While the Jets are all but assured missing the playoffs for the sixth straight season, they are aiming for a strong finish.

”We’re all trying to win every game,” Bowles said, ”whether we’re trying to get to 8-8 or whether we’re trying to be 16-0.”

Here are some other things to know as the Colts and Jets prepare to face each other on Monday night:

LIGHTS OUT: The Colts were once a good bet in prime-time games. Not anymore.

Indy has lost five straight games and seven of the last eight it has played under the lights. The list includes a Thanksgiving night loss to Pittsburgh last week and a defeat in September 2015 to the Jets. And the Colts are just 3-9 in prime time since January 2011.

MARSHALL PLAN: Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall caught a 1-yard TD pass against the Patriots last week , his first score since Oct. 9 at Pittsburgh – a span of five games without reaching the end zone.

He’s having a down year statistically with 49 catches for 668 yards and three touchdowns, far off his pace from last season when he had a franchise-record 109 receptions for 1,502 yards and 14 TDs.

Still, Marshall is moving up the career lists. He needs 59 yards receiving to become the 25th player in NFL history with 12,000. Marshall also has seven career 100-yard receiving performances on ”Monday Night Football,” one behind Tim Brown and Andre Reed for third place all-time.

FANTASTIC FRANK: Colts running back Frank Gore has been passing familiar faces on the NFL’s career rushing list all season. On Monday night, he can do it again.

Gore needs 30 yards rushing to move past Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett (12,739) for No. 8. He has already passed five Hall of Famers this year: Thurman Thomas, Franco Harris, Marcus Allen, Marshall Faulk and Jim Brown. He also passed old friend Edgerrin James, one of the three non-Hall of Famers to appear in the top 15. The others: LaDainian Tomlinson, who will be eligible for induction next year, and Gore.

THE LINE: The Jets have three first-rounders on their defensive line in Muhammad Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson and Leonard Williams, so the Colts’ continually changing offensive line may face its most difficult task all season.

The good news: center Ryan Kelly and right guard Denzelle Good have practiced this week, so the Colts may not need to piece together their seventh different starting line this season.

The bad news: Indy has given up 38 sacks in 11 games, the second-highest total in the league.

TIGHT ENDS BREAK OUT: Chan Gailey hasn’t used tight ends much in the passing game in his two seasons as the Jets’ offensive coordinator, with New York getting just eight receptions (Jeff Cumberland, five; Kellen Davis, three) last year.

It was much of the same until last week, when Brandon Bostick had two and Austin Seferian-Jenkins one – giving the Jets a whopping seven from the position this season. The three catches were the most New York has gotten from the position since Cumberland had three against New England on Dec. 21, 2014.

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AP Sports Writer Michael Marot in Indianapolis contributed.

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OPENING LINE – Pick-em.

RECORD VS. SPREAD – Indianapolis 5-5-1, New York 4-5-2

SERIES RECORD – Colts lead 41-31

LAST MEETING – Jets beat Colts 20-7, Sept. 21, 2015

LAST WEEK – Colts lost to Steelers 28-7; Jets lost to Patriots 22-17

AP PRO32 RANKING – Colts No. 23, Jets No. 28

COLTS OFFENSE – OVERALL (15), RUSH (25), PASS (11)

COLTS DEFENSE – OVERALL (30), RUSH (23), PASS (30)

JETS OFFENSE – OVERALL (22), RUSH (12), PASS (24t)

JETS DEFENSE – OVERALL (12), RUSH (4), PASS (22)

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES – Colts and Jets playing each other on ”Monday Night Football” for second straight year. … Colts QB Andrew Luck expected to play after sitting out last week with concussion. Backup Scott Tolzien, in third career start, went 22 of 36 for 205 yards with one TD and two INTs in loss to Steelers. … Luck has 120 TD passes in first five seasons, fifth most in NFL history. … RB Frank Gore leads NFL running backs with 91 consecutive games played and 87 straight starts. Passed Eddie George (2,685) and Thurman Thomas (2,877) for 13th-most rushing attempts in NFL history with 2,880. Needs 37 to pass John Riggins for 12th. … WR T.Y. Hilton ranks second in NFL with 20 catches of 20 or more yards this season, and is fifth in league with 942 yards receiving. … WR Donte Moncrief looking for TD catch in fifth straight game. … Erik Walden is one of five LBs in league with at least eight sacks and two forced fumbles this season. … Jets sticking with Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB after he went 22 of 32 for 269 yards with two TDs in return from sprained knee that sidelined him for one game. … RB Matt Forte ranks 10th in NFL with 759 yards rushing. He has 508 yards from scrimmage, four rushing TDs, one receiving TD in last five games. … WR Brandon Marshall caught 1-yard TD pass vs. Patriots, first score since Oct. 9 at Pittsburgh – span of five games without reaching end zone. Marshall needs 59 yards receiving to become 25th player in NFL history with 12,000. Since entering league in 2006, he ranks second with 11,941 yards receiving and 931 catches. He has seven career 100-yard receiving performances on MNF, one behind Tim Brown and Andre Reed for third place all-time. Art Monk had nine and Jerry Rice 13. … WR Quincy Enunwa had first 100-yard game of career, catching five passes for 109 yards and TD last week. With 43 catches, ranks second to Marshall’s 49 on team. … C Nick Mangold has missed four straight with sprained ankle. … DL Leonard Williams leads team with six sacks, 22 QB hits and two forced fumbles. … Rookie LB Darron Lee, team’s first-round pick, returned to starting lineup in second game back from high ankle sprain and tied David Harris for team lead with 11 total tackles. … Fantasy Tip: Fitzpatrick could be sneaky and solid play as fantasy bye-week fill-in QB against 30th-ranked pass defense.

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