Andrew Luck’s offensive line hasn’t done him many favors in his NFL career. Last year, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback took several vicious hits and missed a few games due to injury.

To address that problem, the Colts acted quickly in this year’s NFL Draft, snagging Alabama center Ryan Kelly with the 18th overall pick.

Now, according to stampedeblue.com, Luck is working to build chemistry with his new protector:

Andrew Luck said on Thursday that he will get together with new center Ryan Kelly during the dead period for workouts and simply to hang out off the field as well.

“Yeah, he’s a Cincinnati guy so not far. We’ll absolutely do on and off the field,” Luck said. “Again, I think a big part of the quarterback-center relationship is knowing each other and just getting reps. The fact of the matter is we haven’t been together for that long so reps will be important.”

Kelly won the Rimington Trophy, given to the nation’s top collegiate center, with Alabama last year. Luck said he’s not surprised the man who helped lead the Crimson Tide to a national championship last season is a quick learner at the NFL level:

“Yeah, absolutely. That’s the goal, that’s the hope,” Luck said when asked if Kelly is his long-term center. “He’s been impressive. All the young guys have been very, very impressive. But he’s done a heck of a job of taking ownership of that position and we’ve been hitting the ground running.”

Building chemistry should be easy before the season starts, but if Kelly and the other Indianapolis offensive linemen can’t keep Luck on his feet more often this year, this blossoming friendship could end rather abruptly.