Jones looks ‘completely fine physically’

Jones successfully returned from last year’s season-ending Achilles tendon rupture, but his play has been negatively impacted by it. With two young quarterbacks on the roster, it would seemingly make sense to trade Jones to get an extended look at either Riley Leonard and/or Anthony Richardson. Apparently, the Colts disagree. We have no way of knowing whether Pelissero’s report is a hardball negotiation tactic by the Colts’ front office, but we will have an answer to that question in the next couple of days.

The final score would have been much more lopsided if not for 14 accepted penalties from an undisciplined Cowboys team, something that allowed the Colts to surge back in the second half and take the lead with under two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The efforts would prove fruitless as they immediately let Dak Prescott connect with Ryan Flournoy on a 46-yard gain on the first play of the following possession, resulting in a Javonte Williams touchdown. A Jones pick on the next possession sealed the game and sent the Colts to a 2-7 record ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline, with questions abound regarding the future of the franchise. Jones has been a name linked to numerous teams this week, the most of which is the Vikings following the hamstring injury sustained by Kyler Murray. More to come as the Colts enter a tear-it-down rebuild.

Per Rapoport, the Ravens called Indy about Jones after Lamar Jackson went down with a potentially season-ending thumb injury. They eventually traded for Jacoby Brissett. With Kyler Murray hurt and playing poorly even when healthy, the Vikings are at least going to explore some outside options at quarterback. Jones was on the team’s practice squad in 2024 before joining the Colts last year.

Despite ESPN’s Adam Schefter trying to will a Jones trade into existence by recreating Brian Windhorst memes, Pelissero reports the Colts have informed teams they aren’t trading the 29-year-old quarterback. Jones is set to start against the Cowboys in Week 9, but could find himself on the bench once the Colts are eliminated from playoff contention given the injury guarantees for next season in his contract.

Schefter passes along that the Ravens called the Colts about Jones before they acquired Jacoby Brissett from the Cardinals. Otherwise, this report lacked specifics. According to league sources, multiple teams have called the Colts about trading for Jones, but he couldn’t name a team other than the Ravens. Schefter mentions the Vikings as a possibility, but while that suggestion makes sense given Minnesota’s need at quarterback and Jones’ history with the organization, it’s still purely speculation at this point. Jones is set to start against the Cowboys in Week 9, but isn’t on the fantasy radar outside of 2QB/superflex leagues.

Fowler says that multiple sources around the league, including multiple sources inside the Colts’ organization, believe Jones “should be trying to get out of Indy, or maybe wants to.” The Colts are entering a rebuild, with trade rumors swirling around multiple star players. Fowler closed the segment by hinting at the Vikings as a possible landing spot. Jones’ fantasy-scoring outlook might tick up a little bit were he to head back to Minnesota.

After taking some time to evaluate his quarterback room, Steichen has decided to stick with Jones, saying he believes Jones gives the Colts “the best chance to win right now.” Jones has struggled mightily in his second season with the Colts and is now sitting on a 1,542-5-9 passing line this season, and he tossed two picks in Week 8’s 42-7 blowout loss to the Jaguars. He was pulled in favor of Anthony Richardson late in the game, but he will get at least one more start against a woeful Cowboys defense that is fresh off blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead to the Cardinals in a comeback that was orchestrated by Gardner Minshew. With only two teams on bye this week, Jones is nothing more than a desperation streamer in 2QB/superflex leagues.

This is the first time this season that Steichen has left open the possibility of replacing Daniel Jones as the team’s official starter. Anthony Richardson replaced him in-game today, with just under 12 minutes remaining. It seems as though Richardson, or even fellow backup Riley Leonard, could end up playing next week against the Cowboys’ fantasy-friendly defense.

Distressingly, this has become something of a standard statline for Jones, who is now sitting on a 5:9 TD:INT ratio through eight starts. That being said, Jones would have piled up more garbage time yards had he not been benched for most of the fourth quarter with the Colts getting annihilated. Jones’ first interception was a 92-yard pick-six, though the “interception” was really more of a Tyler Warren drop. The same was not true of Jones’ second pick, which was simply an awful third quarter throw where he never saw LB Branson Combs in coverage. There is nothing left to see of Jones under center for the tanking/rebuilding Colts, but the problem is, the same is true of backups Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard. This is just a team that’s going to have to play out the string with things getting worse before they get better. That does not mean Jones will keep his starting job. It’s likely only a matter of time before Richardson gets one final look under center. That could come as early as Week 9 against the Cowboys.

Jones received a vote of confidence from Colts HC Shane Steichen earlier this week and now there’s a report from prominent NFL Insider Pelissero that the organization hasn’t discussed benching him. While that’s all well and good, the Colts still seem like they’re in the early stages of a process that will likely end with benching Jones at some point this year. The fact that Pelissero mentioned Jones’ contract includes a $10.51 million injury guarantee for 2027 is an ominous sign. Once the 2-5 Colts are officially eliminated from playoff contention, Indianapolis won’t have much incentive to risk injury with the oft-injured Jones.