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stephen holder
indianapolis-the philip rivers The experiment is not over.
indianapolis colts Coach Shane Steichen confirmed Monday that Rivers, recently retired and playing his first game in five years, will remain the team’s starting quarterback for Week 16’s “Monday Night Football” matchup. san francisco 49ers,
The Colts lost 18–16. Seattle Seahawks Rivers’ first action since the 2020 season on Sunday. His statistical performance was modest, completing 18 of 27 passes for 120 yards. But Steichen praised Rivers for his game management, which remains a driving force behind keeping him in the lineup.
“He was out so long, obviously, there was some unknown,” Steichen said. “But for him to go out there and do what he had to do, in a hostile environment, after being out for a long period of time, to get us in a position to win, to get us in the right game, to manage the game. I thought he was phenomenal in that regard on the sideline. His leadership – all the things he brings to our team – will be beneficial to all of us.”
Another variable to the 44-year-old Rivers remaining a starter is his health. He had some strong hits in the game, his first since his final NFL season. There were concerns within the organization about how Rivers’ body would react. But Rivers returned to Colts headquarters on Monday and said he was fine.
“He feels good,” Steichen said. “He’s watching tape in the quarterback room right now. He said he feels good. He said, ‘I had the normal injuries that I have while playing,’ but he said, ‘I feel great.’ So, it was good for him to come out of the game unscathed.”
Although Steichen remains committed to Rivers, there is another quarterback wrinkle worth mentioning. Anthony Richardson Sr.The Colts’ 2023 first-round pick is close to returning to the practice field, Steichen said. Richardson has been on injured reserve since October after fracturing the orbital bone near his right eye during a freak pregame warmup accident. The delicate nature of the injury has sidelined him since and made him unavailable since the start of the Daniel Jones‘Tore an Achilles in week 14 at the end of the season.
But doctors have given Richardson the green light to increase his activity and discussions are ongoing about how to proceed, Steichen said.
Richardson has been working out in the weight room for a while and has started throwing again, Steichen said. The team must declare its practice window open before returning to the practice field, during which it will have 21 days to evaluate and activate. The Colts have only three games remaining in the regular season.
Steichen said, as far as Rivers is concerned, when he plays next week, it may look different from the conservative game plan the Colts adopted Sunday. Only nine of Rivers’ 27 pass attempts traveled more than 5 yards downfield.
“We wanted to run the ball, control the clock, finish easily, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that,” Steichen said.
He later said, “I think every game plan will be different. That was the game plan for that game.”
Sunday’s loss dropped the Colts to 8-6 on the season, one game behind houston texans For the AFC’s final wild-card spot.
