Daniel Jones ended Sunday’s 42-7 loss to the Jaguars on the bench and Colts head coach Shane Steichen was asked if the quarterback will be spending more time there in the future.
Jones was pulled in favor of Anthony Richardson after throwing his second interception of the game in the fourth quarter. It marked the first time that Richardson has gotten on the field this season and some have wondered if the 2023 first-round pick will get another chance in the starting job before his rookie deal is up.
Steichen said, via James Boyd of TheAthletic.com, that the Colts are evaluating everything in light of a performance that can only be described as dreadful on Sunday. That’s not specific to Jones, but he bares almost no resemblance to the quarterback that had the Colts off to a great start during the 2025 season and he may still be limited by the torn Achilles that wound up ending his season.
The Colts will host the Cowboys next Sunday and then face the Dolphins, Titans and Giants before a Week 13 bye. That Giants game would be a reunion for Jones, but it remains to be seen what role he’ll be in by that point in the season.
Colts Clips
The Colts signaled a willingness to quit on their season by trading guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner this week and the rest of the team showed they are more than willing to take a knee on Sunday.
The Jaguars rolled to a 28-0 halftime lead at home and then kept pounding the Colts in the second half until they finally called off the dogs in the fourth quarter. The 42-7 win moves the Jags to 5-2 on the season and they got to rest starters in the final minutes as they started thinking about Thursday’s game in Baltimore.
It looked for a moment like the Colts might be able to make it a game when Jaylahn Tuimoloau forced a Trevor Lawrence fumble on a sack, but their scoring chances went up in smoke when Daniel Jones was picked off by Rayuan Lane on a pass that went off tight end Tyler Warren’s hands. Lane returned the ball for a touchdown and there was little left to wonder about in the second half.
One question was answered in the fourth when the Colts pulled Jones after his second interception and gave Anthony Richardson his first chance to play this season. Richardson was 2-of-2 for eight yards and he ran twice for four yards in garbage time and whether it is time to let him take over as the starter is one of the questions for the Colts as they move into Week 9.
Another will be whether they pull the trigger on a trade involving running back Jonathan Taylor. He suited up today, but his eight carries and four catches made no argument that his presence is going to make the Colts a competitive team for the remainder of the season. If Taylor remains in town, he’ll join the Colts for a game against the Cowboys next week.
The Jaguars don’t have to wonder about trading players away and they may be more interested in adding to a roster that has them well on their way to another division title. Bhayshul Tuten had 159 yards of offense and two touchdowns while Lawrence was an efficient 10-of-14 for 210 yards and three scores before letting Quinn Ewers get some time on offense.
Lawrence has now led the Jags to eight wins in 10 starts against the Colts and this was his ninth straight game against Indianapolis where he accounted for multiple touchdowns. One of Lawrence’s touchdowns went to Brian Thomas, who had not caught a pass of any kind since Week 4, and there were nothing but smiles on the Jacksonville sideline at the end of this one.
The Colts have made a quarterback change.
Anthony Richardson replaced Daniel Jones after a Jaguars punt with 11:45 left to play in Sunday’s game in Jacksonville. The move was due to the 42-7 Jaguars lead rather than any injury issue with the Colts’ starter.
Richardson is making his first appearance of the season and he only had a pair of cameo appearances last season before his season-ending eye injury, so this will be his first extended playing time since the 2024 season. Given the trajectory of the Colts’ season, it’s fair to wonder if he’ll also get starting opportunities as the team starts making plans for the future.
Jones was 19-of-28 for 144 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions before being yanked.
Anyone thinking the Colts would summon a Herculean effort in the wake of this week’s white flag trades has been sorely disappointed by the first 30 minutes of play in Jacksonville.
A couple of plays after a Trevor Lawrence fumble gifted the Colts their best field position of the day late in the second quarter, quarterback Daniel Jones threw a pass off tight end Tyler Warren’s hands and into the waiting mitts of Jaguars safety Rayuan Lane. Lane returned the ball 91 yards and the Jaguars went into halftime with a 28-0 lead over their AFC South rivals.
Lawrence was 7-of-11 for 138 yards and two touchdowns prior to losing that fumble and running back Bhayshul Tuten has posted 94 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. The Jags have sacked Jones twice and they’ve also recovered a fumble after a botched reverse by Jonathan Taylor and Josh Downs.
Given the score and the general hopelessness around the Colts at present, it will be interesting to see if they give Anthony Richardson a shot at quarterback in the second half. It’s difficult to find much more to look forward to in Indianapolis at the moment.
The Jaguars defense picked up the first turnover of Sunday’s game against the Colts, but they lost a key member of the unit on the same play.
Defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton had to be carted off after suffering an apparent leg injury during a play that ended with Bryan Thomas recovering a Colts fumble.
The fumble came when the Colts tried a play that saw quarterback Daniel Jones hand to running back Jonathan Taylor before Taylor tried to flip the ball to wide receiver Josh Downs. Taylor stumbled and the flip fell to the turf where Thomas was waiting for it.
The Jaguars used the good fortune to extend their lead. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence hooked up with tight end Nate Boerkircher for a 31-yard touchdown that has them up 14-0 with 7:14 to play in the first half.
UPDATE 2:05 p.m. ET: Hamilton has been ruled out with a knee injury.
Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said he had confidence that wide receiver Brian Thomas would help the team make plays against the Colts in Week 8 and he was proven right in the first quarter.
Quarterback Trevor Lawrence punctuated the team’s opening drive with a 12-yard pass to Thomas in the end zone. The score put the Jaguars up 7-0 with nearly 10 minutes off the clock in Jacksonville.
Thomas had no catches in Jacksonville’s last two games and he was benched in the second half of Week 6.
The Jaguars moved 98 yards on the scoring drive as the Colts pinned them deep after a punt on their opening possession. Lawrence hooked up with tight end Brenton Strange for 46 yards on the biggest play of the drive.
The Jags did lose safety Eric Murray to an elbow injury. He’s called questionable to return.
Running back Jonathan Taylor may not be a member of the Colts at this time next week, but he will be in their lineup in Jacksonville on Sunday.
Taylor is active for the Colts as they try to improve on their 2-5 record in a divisional matchup with the Jaguars. The last few days have seen several reports that the Colts have stepped up talks with other clubs about trading Taylor and that gave rise to speculation that they might hold him out of the lineup in order to avoid an injury that would close the door on that possibility.
Arizona took that step with wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. before dealing him to the Texans last month. The Colts are taking the other route and any potential trade will likely require Taylor to come through Sunday’s game unscathed.
The Colts aren’t holding wide receiver Josh Downs either. Downs requested a trade this week as he plays out the final year of his current contract as part of a Colts team that has already traded away guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.
Wide receiver George Pickens has touchdown catches in two of his last three games and he’ll have a chance to make it three of four against the Cardinals on Sunday.
Pickens was listed as questionable on the Cowboys’ final injury report due to shoulder and hamstring issues, but he avoided the inactive list ahead of kickoff in Dallas. Pickens has 37 catches for 485 yards overall this season.
Defensive tackle Kenny Clark was also listed as questionable for the Cowboys due to a back injury. He joins Pickens in the lineup for Week 8.
Cardinals at Cowboys
Cardinals: QB Carson Beck, CB Starling Thomas, RB Evan Hull, LB Eku Leota, OL Jon Gaines, OL Albert Reese, DL Walter Nolen
Cowboys: WR KaVontae Turpin, CB Shavon Revel, LB Dee Winters, LB Tyrus Wheat, OL Drew Shelton, TE Luke Schoonmaker
Raiders at Jets
Raiders: WR Dont’e Thornton, QB Aidan O’Connell, WR Malik Benson, S Tristin McCollum, S Dalton Johnson, OL Bryce Cabeldue, DT JJ Pegues
Jets: RB Breece Hall, WR Tim Patrick, OL Max Mitchell, OL Kohl Levao, LB David Bailey, LB Joseph Ossai, CB Nahshon Wright
Falcons at Buccaneers
Falcons: QB Andy Dalton, QB Jack Strand, LB Divine Deablo, RB Brian Robinson, DB Billy Bowman, CB Robert Longerbeam, DE Drake Jackson
Buccaneers: WR Emeka Egbuka, CB Ayden Garnes, G Luke Haggard, G Billy Schrauth, DL DeMonte Capehart
Ravens at Bills
Ravens: WR Elijah Sarratt, S Jaylinn Hawkins, CB Chandler Rivers, OL Emery Jones, G Vega Ioane, DL Aeneas Peebles, QB Joe Fagnano
Bills: OT Spencer Brown, OL Ar’maj Reed-Adams, DL Greg Gaines, WR Skyler Bell, LB Mike Danna, CB Dee Alford, S Jalon Kilgore
Browns at Steelers
Browns: QB Dillon Gabriel, QB Taylen Green, LB Justin Jefferson, CB Noah Igbinoghene, RB Audric Estime, C Parker Brailsford
Steelers: WR Ben Skowronek, QB Drew Allar, QB Will Howard, CB Brandin Echols, RB Eli Heidenreich, CB Doneiko Slaughter
Colts at Jaguars
Colts: LB Bryce Boetticher, TE Pharaoh Brown, DT Kevin Givens, WR Anthony Gould, OL Charlie Heck, QB Riley Leonard, CB Justin Walley
Jaguars: S Antonio Johnson, WR CJ Williams, CB Alijah Huzzie, LB Jamal Hill, DE Wesley Williams, DT Albert Regis
Vikings at Lions
Vikings: S Jakobe Thomas, CB Charles Demmings, RB Demond Claiborne, OL Caleb Tiernan, DL Elijah Williams, QB Max Brosmer
Lions: TE Jackson Meeks, C Seth McLaughlin, DL Mekhi Wingo, DE Ahmed Hassanein, S Bishop Fitzgerald
Titans at Bengals
Titans: RB Tyjae Spears, WR Carnell Tate, P Tommy Townsend, OL Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, TE Kylen Granson, DL Jackie Marshall, DB Jaylon Jones
Bengals: S Kyle Dugger, C Connor Lew, OL Myles Hinton, WR Mitchell Tinsley, DT Landon Robinson
The NFL’s injury report places no obligation on teams to disclose that a player will be a healthy scratch. The world finds out if a player who is able to play otherwise won’t be playing roughly 90 minutes before kickoff, when the team supplies its list of inactive players.
For the Colts, there’s a decision to be made later this morning. Will running back Jonathan Taylor play at Jacksonville, as they continue to engage in talks aimed at trading him? (The Giants are definitely making a play to get him, and others presumably are, too.)
By all indications, Taylor will play. But if the phone rings before 11:30 a.m. ET and the Colts get an offer they choose not to refuse, the plan could quickly change. (And since the Giants don’t have a game this weekend, they can focus their efforts exclusively on trying to get it done, even if it takes a call from coach John Harbaugh to owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon.)
Three weeks ago, the Cardinals knew on Friday that they’d be trading receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. after Sunday’s game. Harrison didn’t play. It’s possible that one of the teams interested in Taylor will put the right terms on the table in order to persuade the Colts to put Taylor in bubble wrap for Sunday pending a post-game announcement that Taylor will be changing teams.
Without a deal in place imminently, the Colts will be taking a calculated risk if Taylor is active. If he gets injured, the trade market will evaporate.
Like it did on Friday for the Commanders and defensive tackle Daron Payne. There were trade talks regarding Payne, until he suffered a season-ending foot injury in practice.
So even though the trade deadline doesn’t arrive until November 10, there are various other deadlines that could drive a trade decision. For the Colts, the most immediate deadline arrives very soon, when they have to decide whether to let Taylor play and risk an injury that would necessarily close the door on a potential trade.
The fine imposed on Giants running back Cam Skattebo for illegal use of the helmet was not a rarity. The flag thrown in real time for it was.
Of eight fines levied by the NFL for use-of-helmet violations in Week 7, only Skattebo’s came with a flag.
The league fined Skattebo $7,073. The seven players fined but not flagged were: Bears cornerback Clark Phillips ($11,550); Broncos safety Brandon Jones ($23,882); Broncos Alex Singleton ($47,662); Lions safety Brian Branch ($23,882); Colts cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt ($7,791); Steelers receiver Brandon Smith ($4,916); and 49ers running back Jordan James ($6,194).
The fines increase as the violations repeat. For Singleton, who was fined $23,882 for illegal use of the helmet, it was the second straight week he was fined.
The officials, for whatever reason, don’t often call penalties for illegal use of the helmet. That’s what made the penalty called on Skattebo so unusual.
The fact that the hit flattened Texans safety M.J. Stewart likely was a factor in the decision to penalize Skattebo. Still, the fact that only one of eight instances resulted in a foul being called underscores the fact that, when it comes to the rule against lowering the helmet and initiating forcible contact against an opponent, it’s something that costs players money far more routinely than it costs their teams field position.
