INDIANAPOLIS — The tears welled up almost instantly. Philip Rivers couldn’t help himself. He was, at last, back home.
Not the one in Fairhope, Ala., where he’s a father to 10 and grandfather to one. His other home, at West 56th Street, the site of the Indianapolis Colts practice facility, where his competitive spirit still yearned to be nearly five years after he thought he’d moved out — permanently.
Rivers was supposed to be retired from football. He’d walked away after a final and memorable 2020 season with the Colts, having led them to the playoffs, only to come sprinting back to aid the same franchise that, less than 72 hours before, felt so lifeless. Indianapolis had just lost its third straight game and, more devastatingly, its starting quarterback.
Daniel Jones ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first quarter of Sunday’s defeat in Jacksonville. The locker room is always quieter after a loss, but this was different. The doubt creeping in was nearly as tangible as the boot Jones wore out of EverBank Stadium. The faces of players like wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. and cornerback Kenny Moore II said more than their words ever could.
Neither veteran could have imagined that by Wednesday, their former teammate — and the last QB to take the Colts to the playoffs — would be former no more. Improbably, Rivers is back, and his mere presence seems to have reinvigorated an 8-5 team that still has a chance to get into the dance, starting with a road game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
“I’ll be ready to go,” Rivers said Wednesday when asked if he could start with just three practices after spending nearly half a decade out of the league. “I’m going to prepare and push for that. I don’t mean push (the coaches) for that. I mean push myself to get there. And if that’s what we feel, they feel, we collectively feel is the best decision, then we’ll go. … Got some good memories in Seattle. Some not so great. I know how good that stinking team is and how well they’re playing right now. So, me at 30 years old, me at 44 years old, going to Seattle and winning in 2025 in (Week 15), it’s going to be tough. It’s going to be tough.
“You can’t back down from those kinds of challenges.”
Rivers is now a member of the Colts ‘ practice squad, but as he suggested, that could change in a matter of days. Colts coach Shane Steichen broke his typically stoic mold Wednesday and was giddy as he praised Rivers, treating the QB’s nearly five-year absence from the NFL more like it was a five-day absence from school. The last time Steichen and Rivers worked together was in 2019, when Rivers was still the Chargers’ franchise QB and Steichen was his interim offensive coordinator. They’d spent eight seasons together and have remained close friends in the years since. So close that when Jones went down Sunday, Rivers, who still watches almost every Chargers and Colts game, had a clairvoyant thought.
“Well, I wonder if Shane will call later?” he said, revealing what ran through his mind over the weekend.
By that night, his phone was ringing.
Steichen shared the play-by-play, explaining that after Jones tore his Achilles and backup Riley Leonard, who replaced him in Sunday’s loss and showed promise, reported right knee soreness after the game, Steichen decided to phone one of his closest friends and confidants Sunday night. It was a Hail Mary, but if there was one person outside of the team facility who could pick up the Colts’ offense in a matter of days, it was Rivers, perhaps because the eight-time Pro Bowler ran the same offense for several years with the Chargers and has even retaught a simplified version of it to his son’s high school team.
Two weeks ago, Rivers was wearing a headset while coaching St. Michael Catholic High School (Ala.) in the playoffs. Now, with four games left in the Colts’ season, he’s strapping on a helmet and shaking the dust off his right arm. A workout Monday confirmed that Rivers could still sling it, Steichen said, and by Tuesday, Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard got a call from Rivers that turned their outlandish plan into reality.
“Dadgummit, let’s freaking go!” Rivers screamed into the phone.
Steichen wasn’t too surprised.
“He’s one of the most passionate players I’ve ever been around,” Steichen said. “The obsession for the game is off the charts. So, I know he’s fired up to be back in this building. He’s been with a lot of these guys when he played here last, so (I’m) looking forward to that.”
Steichen added that he believes Rivers will give his team “juice,” yet it may come at the expense of Leonard. A few days ago, the 23-year-old scored his first NFL touchdown, on a six-yard run, and was in line to make his first NFL start Sunday in Seattle. That is still a possibility. However, when Steichen was asked Wednesday if Leonard would remain QB1 if he’s healthy enough to play, Steichen was noncommittal. He left the door cracked just enough for Rivers, who’s mentored and trained alongside Leonard in recent years, to walk through it.
#Colts QB Riley Leonard, shrugged his shoulders when asked if he thinks he’ll start Sunday against the #Seahawks:
“I don’t know. I’m just here to play my best. Be my best at practice today.” pic.twitter.com/M7ncnWFJ1N
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) December 10, 2025
“I knew he still got it, but it was never past that like, ‘Could he come back and play?’ or anything,” Leonard said Wednesday. “But obviously, I knew, with throwing together, he still had it. I mean, there were times — we always finish our sessions with some type of competition, and whether it’s throwing to the net or something. I used to get out there, and when it was my day to pick the competition, I would have us sprint out as fast as you could and throw on the run or something like that. And if I got him that day, (he’d) send me like a voice memo at 11 p.m., complaining about how I cheated and how I picked an unfair drill. So yeah, I knew he still had it, but it’s crazy.
“It’s as crazy to me as it is to anybody. But yeah, it’s cool.”
Asked if he was frustrated that Rivers could leapfrog him on the depth chart, Leonard said he didn’t “have an opinion on it.” He just vowed to continue preparing for an opportunity that, from the sights and sounds of Wednesday, might have already been taken.
The players know Rivers didn’t come back just to offer wisdom, and unlike with Leonard, many of them remember the success he once brought them. Against considerable odds, they’re hopeful he can do it again.
“Nunc Coepi, baby,” linebacker Zaire Franklin said, referencing the Latin phrase “Now I begin,” which has become Rivers’ mantra through the years. “ … I know who Phil is, and I understand his competitive nature. He’s probably the most competitive player I’ve played with or against.”
Franklin added that “talking to (Rivers) feels like you’re talking to Shane,” so he expects the Colts not to miss a beat if Rivers is called upon. Pittman echoed the same sentiment and left no room for confusion on why Rivers is back in Indy. If the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist is elevated to the active roster, it would reset his retirement clock, and he’d have to wait another five years to be considered for enshrinement. Rivers said that wasn’t a factor in his return, and Pittman believes it’s already a formality.
“He’s gotta reset that clock now,” said Pittman, who caught his first career TD pass from Rivers during his rookie season in 2020. “Because we gotta make the playoffs.”