Daniel Jones, to begin his Colts career, has faced two defenses to begin the 2025 season that were blitz-heavy groups in 2024. But the strategy for the Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos in Weeks 1 and 2 was clear: Try to shut down the Colts’ passing offense by blitzing Jones over and over and over again.

Jones was blitzed on 50 dropbacks in Weeks 1 and 2, per Pro Football Focus, the second-most blitzes a quarterback has faced in the first two weeks of a season since 2010 (Washington’s Robert Griffin III was blitzed 53 times to open the 2013 season). And Jones handled those pressure packages well, completing 32 of 47 pass attempts for 455 yards (9.7 yards/attempt) with 25 first downs and a passer rating of 106.3, via PFF.

No quarterback since 2010, per PFF’s tracking, has thrown for more yards than Jones against the blitz in the first two weeks of a season, per PFF.

The Colts certainly prepared Jones to face funky pressure looks throughout training camp – during which he went against Lou Anarumo’s defense in practice – but games are, to say the least, different than practice, where there’s zero threat of being hit, or even having a pass rusher too close to you.

“In this league, we really protect our quarterbacks during practice,” offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. “The red jersey, it’s non-contact, it’s defensive linemen staying away from the quarterback. That’s every sort of team in this league, every offense in this league that I know of wants to keep those guys as healthy as we can as we go through that process.

“But it does change a little bit when you are going to get sacked, you are going to get hit, you are going to get sort of rolled around. You are going to sort of maybe make a guy miss and go make a play. That’s when, some of that live-action quarterbacking becomes real.”

Both Jones’ first and last throws of Week 2 were emblematic of the way he’s played against the blitz – and with the very real threat of taking a hit.

On his first dropback against the Broncos, Denver sent five pass rushers on a second-and-six play. Defensive tackle D.J. Jones dove at Jones’ ankles, forcing the quarterback to slide to his left – where defensive tackle Zach Allen had looped around and was closing in on the pocket. Jones stepped into his throw and delivered a downfield strike to wide receiver Josh Downs; Jones was brought to the ground by Allen shortly after the throw, which generated a gain of 19 yards.

“That was some throw,” Cooter said. “That was some impressive throw, man. That’s a hard one to rep. You guys watch (quarterbacks) coach Cam Turner’s drills over there every day in practice. I’m not sure we could whack him with a bag hard enough to get a real rep of that throw. It’s something that I think is great to see. Obviously, one heck of a play.”