Daniel

Jones

Jones is playing through a fractured fibula and might be on the injury report for the remainder of the year. The good news is that he managed the issue well in Week 13, taking one sack without turning the ball over. A full practice today means that the injury won’t prevent him from playing in Week 14. With the Colts likely leaning on their ground game to protect Jones going forward, fantasy managers should treat him as a high-end QB2 as opposed to the locked-in QB1 they thought they had earlier this year.

Jones was just 1-of-5 for two yards in the first quarter, taking his only sack of the game. Shane Steichen was able to scheme up plenty of easy middle-of-the-field throws for Jones, but he also made a handful of impressive chucks, including a 22-yard touchdown throw to Alec Pierce that was absolutely perfectly placed. If you were forced to start him into the Texans defense, this was about as good as you could have expected. He’ll be at the back of the QB1 line against the Jaguars in Week 14, but this game demonstrated a solid floor and the Jaguars are a bit of a pass funnel.

This comes a day after it was reported that Jones would attempt to play through the injury, so this news doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Jones reported “looked good” in practice, although it’s worth noting that some reps we saw in videos that surfaced online looked questionable at best. Jones will need to be at the top of his game against a Texans defense that ranks sixth in the league in sacks and brought down Josh Allen a season-high five times in Week 12. Jones will be a risky QB2 for fantasy this week.

Jones was a full participant in Thursday’s practice and “looked good,” according to a source familiar with the situation who spoke with Rapoport. This isn’t an injury that’s going to heal in one week, so Jones could try to play through it for multiple weeks. Jones has enjoyed a career revival in Indianapolis this season, throwing for 2,840-17-7 while completing a career-high 69.1 percent of his passes. He gets a tough matchup in Week 13 against the Texans, and shouldn’t be viewed as anything more than a mid-QB2 if active.

Jones sustained the injury near the end of the Colts’ Week 12 loss to the Chiefs. He should be OK for Week 13 against a stingy Houston defense that shut down Josh Allen and the Bills last week. It’s an awful matchup for Jones, who struggles immensely under pressure. He should not be started in 12-team one-QB fantasy formats this week.

The Vikings let Jones walk in free agency last offseason, along with Sam Darnold. With the J.J. McCarthy experiment all but dead after his historically awful play in 2025, Fowler said the Vikings could sign a veteran to compete for the startig QB job in 2026. “The funny thing about that scenario is Jones would be an ideal fit in Minnesota, where he backed up Sam Darnold last season. But as the top free agent quarterback, he will score a sizable deal in Indianapolis or elsewhere,” Fowler said. “Still, the Vikings really liked Jones, and their situation this offseason will be far different than the one from a year ago. Making a play for Jones would give him multiple options to consider.” Though Jones has struggled of late, his play is much improved from his final seasons in New York. He could have several free agency suitors barring a disastrous finish to the regular season.

Jones struggled with turnovers in his previous two games. He protected the ball today but was brutal on third downs. The Colts converted 5-of-13 third downs. They ended the game with five straight failed third-down tries. Indy went three-and-out on their final four drives. The Colts managed 13 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime. Kansas City, on the other hand, racked up 228 yards. We could go on with the incriminating stats, but you get the point. The Chiefs sold out to stop Jonathan Taylor on early downs and took their chances with Jones on late downs. That strategy worked wonders and could be the blueprint for Houston next week. In a nightmare matchup versus a shutdown Texans defense, Jones may fall out of the QB1 ranks for Week 13.

Steichen continued by saying that the calf complaints were “something related to his fibula” — no NFL player ever plays every game at 100 percent, but this will be something to monitor for Jones-reliant managers going forward. Jones will be on the QB1/2 borderline against a Chiefs unit that has allowed just nine passing touchdowns in 10 games.

Mid-week downgrades are never a good sign, but it does at times turn out to lead nowhere impactful. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports it sounds “like the Colts are being cautious.” Jones-reliant managers should familiarize themselves with the waiver wire landscape just in case, but until we get further reporting that Jones’ availability is truly in question, we expect him to be a borderline QB1/QB2 against the Chiefs in Week 12.

After turning the ball over five times against the Steelers last week, Jones was tasked with taking care of the ball versus Atlanta. He lowered the turnover total, but only to two. Jones struggled under pressure, putting the ball on the ground three times, all of which were strip-sacks. The Colts were fortunate to come away with two of the fumbles. Jones was sacked seven times in total. He did, however, add 53 rushing yards on seven attempts. Pressure and ball security are becoming issues for the veteran passer. He will need to tighten things up for a showdown with the Chiefs after the Colts’ Week 11 bye. Jones will return to action as a low-end QB1.