Philip Rivers earned another start for the Indianapolis Colts with his performance Sunday at Seattle, his first NFL game in five seasons.
Head coach Shane Steichen said Monday Rivers is the planned QB this week as Anthony Richardson Sr. received medical clearance to return to some team activities.
Indianapolis dropped to 8-6 with an 18-16 loss to the Seahawks after leading the game with less than two minutes remaining. Rivers, in his first game since Jan. 9, 2021, completed a key pass to Alec Pierce after the two-minute warning to set up Blake Grupe’s 60-yard field goal for a 16-15 lead.
The Seahawks answered with a game-winning field goal, but that didn’t change the quarterback depth chart, Steichen said Monday.
“We didn’t bring him in here to sit on the bench, I’ll say that” Steichen said. “He’s excited for this challenge. We obviously got to take it one week at a time and then we go from there.”
The urgency of the Colts’ current situation is clear after the AFC South division-leading Jacksonville Jaguars (10-4) and Houston Texans (9-5) both won.
Steichen said Monday he’s leaving the ball in the hands of Rivers with the Colts hosting the San Francisco 49ers (10-4) in Indianapolis on ‘Monday Night Football’ on Dec. 22.
“I think obviously him being off for that long, obviously there was some unknown. But for him to go out there and do what he did to put us in a position to win in a hostile environment after that long of a layoff was pretty impressive,” Steichen said. “Getting us into the right plays, managing the game, I thought he was phenomenal in that regard. On the sidelines, his leadership, all those things that he brings to our team will be beneficial for all of us.”
For his part, Rivers expressed confidence in his wideouts despite the limited time with his new teammates.
“Obviously I’ve been around (Michael Pittman Jr.), but not the other guys in person,” Rivers said. “So, like I said, those kind of plays — I had full trust in those. Those are-trust building … But we don’t have time – it’s not like we’re building this thing out. You’re looking at 21 days left, you know, whatever, to find a way to get in.”
The Colts might be working this week without left tackle Bernhard Raimann, who exited the game on the final drive with an elbow injury. Steichen said the team is in wait-and-see mode on Raimann leading up to the Week 16 game. Starting right tackle Braden Smith (concussion/neck) was placed on injured reserve last week.
Former first-round pick Richardson was medically cleared to begin ramping up from his eye injury. Richardson was placed on injured reserve with a fractured orbital bone in October. Steichen said there is no discussion of Richardson being active or even practicing right now, because they first want him to get comfortable in the weight room and conduct other team activities.
