Philip Rivers’ brief comeback is over — and apparently his career is, too. again.
The 44-year-old quarterback returned three weeks ago to try to lead the Indianapolis Colts back to the playoffs, but he will not start Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans. The last photos may have been taken His 18-year NFL career.
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As expected, rookie Riley Leonard will replace Rivers in the starting lineup when the Colts open their season finale Sunday in Houston, coach Sean Steichen announced Wednesday.
Steichen said the move was possible minutes after Indy (8-8) lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, a day after the Texans beat Rivers’ former team, the Los Angeles Chargers, to knock the Colts out of the playoffs. He may have inadvertently dropped a hint of this plan when he mentioned that Rivers “came out and fought like crazy one last time.”
Later Sunday, Rivers admitted he understood the situation and would support whatever direction the Colts go.
When Steichen was asked about the decision again on Monday, he said he still planned to meet with his old friend Rivers on Tuesday before announcing the decision on Wednesday.
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It’s official now.
While Rivers went 0-3 in the “three bonus games” following his five-year layoff, he certainly gave the hobbled Colts a chance to win all three games.
In Week 15 in Seattle, Rivers gave the Colts the lead only to watch the Indy defense give up a field goal in the final minute. His interception in the final seconds led to Indy losing 18-16.
In Week 16 against San Francisco, Rivers helped the Colts score 27 points, but the defense never forced a punt and lost 48-27.
On Sunday, Rivers’ touchdown pass to Mo’Ali-Cox gave Indy a 17-14 lead over Jacksonville in the third quarter. However, the Jaguars scored the final nine points of the game to hand the Colts their sixth straight loss, paving the way for Leonard to make his NFL starting debut.
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“If this is the last time — one more shot, I told you guys, I’m not going to have any regrets about coming back, and I don’t,” Rivers said Sunday. “Except we didn’t win, right – we didn’t win. It was an absolutely explosive three weeks. If I went back and said, ‘Okay, now you know everything that’s going to happen. What are you going to do?’ I would do it over again. It was absolutely awesome.”
Rivers is the most recent quarterback to lead the Colts to the 2020 playoffs. Rivers, who also coaches St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama, will hand over the starting job to Leonard, who plays at another high school in Fairhope.
Indy is about to begin another offseason filled with major questions, starting with the possible absence of Steichen, general manager Chris Ballard or both as they become the first team in 30 years to start 8-2 and miss the playoffs.
The quarterback carousel may be spinning again, too.
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Rivers retired two days after Daniel Jones suffered a season-ending torn right Achilles tendon that will likely keep him out for at least the start of training camp, if not longer, and a day after Leonard arrived with an injured right knee. Jones will become a free agent again in March.
Although 2023 No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson has practiced over the past two weeks, he remains on injured reserve with a fractured orbital bone near his eye — the result of a bizarre injury caused by a stretch band breaking in the locker room before the game.
Richardson is not expected to be activated Sunday and may not return to the team after losing the starting job to Jones in training camp and throwing just two passes all season.
“His eyes are still limited and, honestly, we’re just trying to be really smart about that,” Steichen said Monday.
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The only other quarterback on the roster is Seth Henigan, who was signed to the practice squad on Tuesday, meaning Rivers still has a chance to play a few more snaps.
If he stops rushing the ball, Rivers seems content to rank sixth all-time with 425 passing touchdowns, eighth with 63,984 passing yards and ninth with 134 wins.
“Oh, yeah, yeah. I’ll be back on the sidelines in a second,” Rivers said when asked if another comeback was out of the question. “I’m sure a lot of people in the audience would probably say this is probably where you belong.”
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL