Life is moving in fast-forward for rookie quarterback Riley Leonard since he grabbed his helmet and ran onto the field to replace injured Indianapolis Colts starter Daniel Jones in Jacksonville last Sunday.
Leonard, a sixth-round pick, had thrown only two passes — a pair of fourth-quarter incompletions against the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 26 — before Jones’ injury shoved him into the thick of a game with first place in the AFC South on the line.
“It’s very difficult, but that’s the nature of the game. Obviously, your first thought is to pray for Daniel and hope he’s great because that’s not how you envision getting snaps, right?” Leonard detailed after Sunday’s game. “I always envision myself working and working and developing into a starter, (a position) that I earned. Whether I earned it or not is kind of irrelevant. Daniel went down; my turn was up. It’s super unfortunate to see that, but hopefully everything works out. We’ll be praying for him for sure.”
The Colts lost Jones, and 2023 first-round pick Anthony Richardson is on injured reserve, so when Indianapolis lost Sunday’s game and Leonard left the stadium limping on his knee, head coach Shane Steichen gave 44-year-old Philip Rivers a ring. Rivers was at the team facility by Monday night and officially signed to the practice squad, studying the call sheet for Week 15. He was reviewing calls, plays and checks for the game at Seattle with Leonard, who was born a few days after Rivers threw five touchdown passes on 10 completions against Navy as a junior at North Carolina State.
Both quarterbacks practiced Wednesday and Thursday.
Last week, Leonard played the final three quarters and rushed for a 6-yard TD. His touchdown pass to Michael Pittman Jr. was taken off the board on an offensive pass interference call, but he completed 18 of 29 passes for 145 yards with an interception.
Leonard remains optimistic his first career start is coming this week. Steichen, though, did not rule out turning to Rivers instead in his 245th career game but first since 2021.
“As far as I know, I’m going to go out there and give it my best,” Leonard said.
Steichen, a former assistant coach with the Chargers, crossed over with Rivers for eight seasons, and they were in regular contact long after he joined the Philadelphia Eagles and took over as a first-time head coach with the Colts prior to last season.
When Steichen told of how the call to Rivers came about, it was clear he’s still a believer.
“He’s one of the most passionate players I’ve ever been around,” Steichen said. “The obsession for the game is off the charts.”
The Colts dropped to 8-5 last week and already lost to the Houston Texans (8-5) during the current three-game losing streak.
With four games to play, Indianapolis already has entered “playoff mode” and the schedule is relentless starting at Seattle on Sunday. The Colts are home on “Monday Night Football” against the San Francisco 49ers (9-4) next week and close the regular season at Houston on Jan. 4.
–Field Level Media
