ARIZONA — A familiar (and older) face for Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon is back in the NFL.

The Indianapolis Colts officially signed 44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers this week amid their injury crisis at the position. He joined their practice squad and could potentially even start for Indianapolis.

Gannon was with Indianapolis during Rivers’ last stint with the organization back in 2020 as the Colts’ defensive backs coach.

When asked about Rivers — who is two years older than Gannon — making a return to the league, Arizona’s head coach offered this:

“Yeah, he is [two years older]. A lot more kids than me too. If anybody can do it, it’s him, I’d say that.”

I asked Jonathan Gannon — who was in Indianapolis with Philip Rivers back in 2020 — his thoughts on Rivers’ return with the quarterback being two years older:

“Yeah, he is [two years older]. A lot more kids than me too. If anybody can do it, it’s him, I’d say that.”

😂😂

— Donnie Druin (@DonnieDruin) December 10, 2025

The two only spent one season together, as Rivers retired following the season while Gannon took a promotion to become the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator.

The Cardinals previously played Indianapolis earlier this season, so the two won’t cross paths in 2025.

However, it is interesting Rivers opted to return years later. If he starts, he’d be the third-oldest quarterback to ever play in an NFL game following in the footsteps of Tom Brady (45) and Steve DeBerg (44 years and 279 days).

Could that actually happen?

“We’ll see how the week goes,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. “We’ll get to the end of the week and make that decision.”

Steichen and Gannon were coordinators together in Philadelphia before both accepted head coaching positions in the 2023 offseason.

“They’re a good football team. Obviously, I light up when I talk about (Colts Head Coach) Shane (Steichen) because I know how good he is being with him for those two years that we were together,” Gannon said ahead of Arizona’s road game in Indianapolis, where the Colts ended up on top 31-27.

“He’s a really good football coach, and he knows how to use his people and use his weapons. He knows how to get the most out of the quarterback. Like I said, they’ve got a lot of good players. (Colts General Manager) Chris Ballard’s done a really good job with that roster where it’s at right now with a mix of vets, youth and premium players as I would call them.”

While the Colts hope to make a playoff push, the Cardinals were eliminated from postseason contention weeks ago and simply hope to finish out the 2025 season on a strong note.

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