A report on Monday said that quarterback Philip Rivers would work out for the Colts on Tuesday, but things are moving more quickly on Indianapolis.
Per multiple reports on Tuesday morning, Rivers actually had his workout with his former team on Monday night. Those reports indicate Rivers, who retired after the 2020 season, threw the ball well during the workout.
There’s no word on an agreement and the Colts are believed to be mulling over whether to bring Rivers in as an option to step in at quarterback in the wake of Daniel Jones’ season-ending Achilles injury. Rookie Riley Leonard replaced Jones on Sunday, but is dealing with knee soreness that has clouded his availability for Week 15’s game against the Seahawks.
The Colts currently have Brett Rypien on the practice squad and he’s the only other in-house option as Anthony Richardson is not a candidate to come off of injured reserve at this time.
Rivers spent his final NFL season with the Colts. He was 369-of-543 for 4,169 yards, 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while leading the Colts to the playoffs with an 11-5 record. He was 27-of-46 for 307 yards and two touchdowns in a playoff loss to the Bills and we should learn soon whether or not that will remain Rivers’ final NFL appearance.
The Seahawks plan to have one of their offensive linemen back on the practice field this week.
Head coach Mike Macdonald said, via the team’s website, that Jalen Sundell is expected to return to work after missing the last four games with a knee injury. Sundell started the first nine games of the season at center, but Olu Oluwatimi has handled the spot well in his absence and Sundell also saw time at right guard before sliding over while Oluwatimi was sidelined this summer.
Macdonald said “we’ll see” where Sundell fits once he is back up to speed.
Tight end Elijah Arroyo left Sunday’s win over the Falcons with a knee injury. Macdonald said the team is still working out a plan for the rookie, who has 15 catches for 179 yards and a touchdown, but that he is likely to miss Week 15.
When the news broke that the Colts will give a workout to a quarterback who last played in the team’s most recent playoff game in January 2021, I thought it was a joke.
The joke may ultimately be on the Colts.
Maybe 44-year-old Philip Rivers has something more than fumes in the lawnmower tank after more than four and a half seasons of retirement. Maybe he’ll do enough to stop the 1-4 slide that has followed a 7-1 start.
But they’re bringing in Rivers because there aren’t many other options. That’s because, in part, the trade deadline came and went five weeks ago.
Primary backup (and former starter) Anthony Richardson suffered an orbital fracture before the team’s Week 6 game. The Colts had 22 days to make a deal for a veteran to serve as the understudy to Daniel Jones, who has had multiple injuries during his career. They opted to ride with rookie Riley Leonard and Brett Rypien.
Now that Jones is done for the year and Leonard emerged from his debut with an injury of his own, the Colts are scrambling. The fact that Rivers got a call shows how they feel about available free agents like Taylor Heinicke and Sam Ehlinger. (For all anyone knows, they’ll both be showing up for Tuesday’s tryout, too.)
And to the extent that a team would be willing to release a veteran (e.g., the Giants and Russell Wilson), any player who is cut at this point of the calendar must pass through waivers. Even Derek Carr, who is on the Saints’ reserve/retired list, would be subject to waivers if the Saints were to relinquish his contractual rights.
The point is that the Colts could have tried, during the three weeks between the Richardson injury and the trade deadline, to make a deal for a veteran. Maybe they did and simply couldn’t come to an agreement with a willing team.
Regardless, it was a calculated risk to have Jones, Leonard, and Rypien. Now, the Colts may be down to Rypien and Rivers. Which will make it very hard to avoid becoming the sixth team since the 1970 merger to miss the playoffs after winning seven or more of its first eight games.
Philip Rivers is among the 26 modern-era semifinalists for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026. The Hall is expected to announce the list of finalists later this month.
Rivers, though, will workout for the Colts on Tuesday.
It is unknown what the chances are of Rivers coming out of retirement. He last played in 2020, which is why he is in his first year of eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
So, what happens if Rivers opts to sign with the Colts?
According to a Pro Football Hall of Fame spokesman, Rivers’ clock would reset if he signs to the Colts’ active roster. He would not be eligible for induction until at least 2031, and the Hall would remove him from the eligible modern-era players.
It gets complicated only if Rivers signs to the team’s practice squad and remains there for an extended period of time without being activated to the active roster or promoted to the game-day roster. He would still be eligible for the Hall of Fame in that case.
That could create a situation where the Hall of Fame ends up with 14 modern-era finalists.
“If he’s signed to the practice squad, and that’s his status with the team (and thus still eligible for Hall) for an extended period to the point that we announce the final 15, and he then goes active, he’d come off, and we’d have 14,” the spokesman said.
If the Colts sign Rivers, though, it’s expected to be for him to play and try to save the team’s season.
According to Stephen Holder of ESPN, the Colts haven’t yet decided to sign Rivers, and Rivers has yet to determine whether he wants to play.
The Colts have a surprising candidate to join the team for a stretch run in the wake of Daniel Jones suffering a torn Achilles on Sunday.
According to a report from NFL Media, Philip Rivers will work out with Indianapolis on Tuesday.
Yes, that Philip Rivers.
Retired since spending the 2020 season with the Colts, Rivers has been coaching high school football. But as he turns 44 on Monday, he’s now considering getting back in an NFL locker room.
Rivers spent 16 of his 17 pro seasons with the Chargers, where current Colts head coach Shane Steichen served as QBs coach from 2016-2019 before being promoted to interim offensive coordinator in Rivers’ final year with the club. Steichen had also bene an offensive quality control coach with the then-San Diego Chargers from 2014-2015 and was a defensive assistant with the team in 2011-2012.
Rivers last played in 2020 with the Colts, helping pilot the team to an 11-5 record and a postseason appearance the year after Andrew Luck’s surprise retirement. That season, he completed 68.0 percent of his passes for 4,169 yards with 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
The No. 4 overall pick of the 2004 draft, Rivers is an eight-time Pro Bowler and was the 2013 AP comeback player of the year. He is No. 7 on the NFL’s all-time list with 63.440 passing yards and No. 6 with 421 career touchdown passes.
