It’s currently unclear whether or not 44-year-old Philip Rivers will start at quarterback for the Colts when they play the Seahawks on Sunday.
But as Seattle’s head coach, Mike Macdonald has to prepare for whatever comes.
Macdonald told reporters on Wednesday that he’s expecting Rivers to play, but the club will be prepared for Riley Leonard and Brett Rypien as well.
“It’s the NFL, man. Every week is different. Finally we had something kind of crazy happen this year that wasn’t expected,” Macdonald said, via Gregg Bell of The News Tribune. “If anybody can pull it off, it’s him. The guy’s probably one of the best competitors in the history of the NFL. I’m sure he wouldn’t do it if he didn’t feel like he was ready. So, we’re getting ready for him like he’s been playing the whole time.”
There’s an obvious challenge in trying to prepare for a quarterback who hasn’t played in five years. Macdonald termed the process “tricky.”
“Do you overthink it? Do you go back and watch some of the stuff before he retired?” Macdonald said. “You’re obviously going to go off a lot of what they’ve done this year.
“So, at the end of the day, we’ve got to go play football. We’ve got to make sure we’re on our stuff and we’re ahead of plays and we’re playing our style of ball.”
We’ll see how the week unfolds and if the Seahawks do, in fact, end up playing Rivers on Sunday.
At least for now, one of Seattle’s position coaches will not remain in his role.
The Seahawks announced on Wednesday that running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu is taking a leave of absence for personal reasons.
Run game specialist/assistant offensive line coach Justin Outten and offensive assistant Michael Byrne will assume Polamalu’s duties.
Polamalu joined Seattle’s staff in 2024 when Mike McDaniel took over as the team’s head coach. A longtime college and pro assistant, Polamalu was with the Vikings as running backs coach from 2017-2021 before serving in the same position with the Raiders from 2021-2023.
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Polamalu is stepping away from coaching for the time being and may perform other duties for the team.
The Seahawks have to like what they’ve gotten out of Rashid Shaheed since trading for him midseason.
He’s now been named NFC special teams player of the week after his performance in Sunday’s win over Atlanta.
Shaheed had a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown to start the third quarter of Seattle’s eventual 37-9 win. His return was the longest of 2025 so far.
In all, Shaheed returned three kicks for 148 yards.
This is Shaheed’s first career player of the week award.
The Seahawks will be at home to face the Colts in Week 15.
Could Philip Rivers go from five years out of the NFL to starting on Sunday? Colts head coach Shane Steichen isn’t ruling it out.
Steichen told reporters that quarterback Riley Leonard, who finished last week’s game after Daniel Jones suffered a season-ending Achilles injury, will practice today despite a knee injury. But he wouldn’t say whether Leonard will start on Sunday or whether Rivers, the 44-year-old who just joined the Colts, will start.
“We’ll see,” was all Steichen would say about his starter for Sunday’s game against the Seahawks.
Steichen sounded excited about the possibility of Rivers playing right away.
“His passion and his obsession for the game is unmatched. For him to come back and want to do this at 44 years old I think is incredible,” Steichen said. “We’re excited for his opportunity. He’s one of the most passionate players I’ve ever been around. The obsession for the game is off the charts. I know he’s fired up to be back in this building.”
The Colts would be underdogs at Seattle even if Jones were healthy. Without their starting quarterback, they’re two-touchdown underdogs. Steichen knows he’s going to have to take some chances to pull off an upset and keep his team in playoff contention, and the high-risk, high-reward option of going with the 44-year-old Rivers could be his choice.
We’ve reached the point in the regular season where teams can officially turn an eye toward January.
The Rams, Patriots, and Broncos are the three clubs that can clinch a postseason berth this week.
For Los Angeles, it’s simple: Win and you’re in. The Rams can only secure the NFC’s first playoff spot, with the NFC West still up for grabs between L.A., Seattle, and San Francisco.
Things are a little more complicated for two AFC teams.
New England will win the AFC East and secure a home playoff game with a victory over Buffalo. The Patriots can also clinch a postseason berth with a tie and a Chargers loss; a tie with a Texans loss or tie; a tie with a Colts loss or tie; or a tie with a Jaguars loss. New England would also clinch a berth if Houston loses or ties and Indianapolis loses or ties as long as both games don’t end in a tie.
Denver cannot clinch the AFC West on Sunday, but can clinch a postseason berth with a win. If Denver ties, a Chargers loss, or Jaguars loss, or Texans loss or tie, or Colts loss or tie would also secure a playoff spot. Additionally, the same New England clinching scenario with a Houston loss or tie plus an Indianapolis loss or tie, as long as both games don’t end in a tie, applies to Denver.
The Patriots will play the Bills at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, while Broncos-Packers and Rams-Lions both have a 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff time.
