Mike McCoy isn’t going to cast doubt on Philip Rivers’ return to the NFL.
Not after what Rivers did during McCoy’s watch with the San Diego Chargers, even if it happened during a previous decade.
The Indianapolis Colts shocked the football world Tuesday when they signed Rivers, 44, to the team’s practice squad, as he hasn’t taken an NFL snap since he played for Indianapolis in 2019.
Multiple reports have suggested Rivers could play as early as this week when the Colts visit Seattle.
Indianapolis (8-5) lost starter Daniel Jones to a season-ending Achilles injury last Sunday. Back-up Anthony Richardson is on injured reserve with a fractured orbital bone, and rookie quarterback Riley Leonard — who has played in only two games — is battling a knee injury.
McCoy, the Titans’ interim coach, served as the Chargers’ head coach from 2013-16, when Rivers threw for a combined 17,942 yards — averaging 4,486 yards per season while throwing 123 touchdown passes and 63 interceptions.
“Wish him all the best,” McCoy said Wednesday. “It was an honor and privilege to coach him for four years in San Diego … The type of competitor he is and what the game means to him, it doesn’t shock me at all. Just happy for him because he absolutely loves to play the game and [because of] what the game of football means to him.”
An Alabama native who played college ball at North Carolina State, Rivers is considered a virtual certainty for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, after throwing for 63,440 yards during his 17-year career, tossing 421 touchdown passes and 209 interceptions.
But can he really return at this age after so much time away from the NFL?
One thing in Rivers’ favor: Colts coach Shane Steichen was an offensive assistant for the Chargers from 2014 through 2020, serving as Rivers’ quarterbacks coach from 2016-19.
“He’s one of the best to ever do it,” McCoy said of Rivers. “A Hall of Fame type quarterback … He knows the system. He’s been with Shane before. He’s a true competitor. He’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever been around. So it won’t take him any time to get up and running to be able to play, if that’s what they’re going to do.”
One Titans player, defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, has an interesting tie to Rivers as well.
Simmons recorded his first NFL sack — in his first NFL game — against Rivers, taking down the quarterback in a 23-20 victory at Nissan Stadium on Oct. 20, 2019.
“That’s a milestone, your first sack against a Hall of Fame quarterback,” Simmons said Wednesday. “That one felt good … It’s shocking as hell to see him get off the couch at 44 years old and come back. But props to [Rivers and Indianapolis] and good luck to whatever they got going on over there.”