Seahawks Preparing To Face Philip Rivers, ‘One Of The Best Competitors In The History Of The NFL’
Officially, the Colts have not announced a starting quarterback for their Week 15 game in Seattle, but there’s a real chance it could be Philip Rivers, the eight-time Pro-Bowler who came out of retirement this week to sign to the Colts’ practice squad.
The Colts lost starting quarterback Daniel Jones to a season-ending Achilles injury on Sunday, and his backup to start the season, Anthony Richardson, is also on injured reserve. That would have made rookie Riley Leonard the next man up, but he came out of Sunday’s game with a knee injury that cast some uncertainty over his status as well.
Which led to the Colts reaching out to Rivers, who after a long and decorated career with the Chargers, played his final season with the Colts in 2020. At least people thought it was his final season.
Rivers and Colts coach Shane Steichen, who was on the Chargers staff from 2011-2012, then again from 2014-2020, working his way up from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator, and the Colts’ scheme is similar to what Rivers ran with the Chargers—and was also running as the head coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Alabama—so it’s not out of the question to think that a 44-year-old grandfather who last played in 2020 could start at Lumen Field on Sunday.
“If anybody can pull it off, it’s him,” said Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, who is nearly eight years younger than Rivers. “The guy is probably one of the best competitors in the history of the NFL. I’m sure he wouldn’t do it if he didn’t feel like he was ready, so we’re getting ready for him like he’s been playing the whole time.”
Macdonald said they will also prepare for Leonard and quarterback Brett Rypien, but said of Rivers, “We’re expecting for him to play.”
As for what the process is like preparing for multiple quarterbacks, one of whom has been out of the league for five years, Macdonald said, “It’s tricky. Do you overthink it? You’re going to go back and watch some of the stuff he was doing before he retired, you’re obviously going to go off of a lot of what they’ve done this year. At the end of the day, we’ve got to go play football. We’re got to make sure we’re on our stuff and we’re ahead of plays and we’re playing our style of ball.”
For Seahawks outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu, Sunday will be a chance to reconnect with a former teammate—they spent two seasons together with the Chargers from 2018-2019—but his main focus will be on helping the Seahawks slow down Rivers or whoever else is at quarterback.
“Good for him, man,” Nwosu said. “That’s a guy that loves ball. It sucks that it has to be against the Seahawks, but hey, I’m happy he’s still doing what he loves to do.”
Asked what Rivers was like as a teammate, Nwosu said, “He was fun, man. Very energetic, trash talker. I love that guy, man. Philip was a great guy and leader.”
