Colts HC Shane Steichen offers Philip Rivers, Riley Leonard update

Changes made to the Indianapolis Colts' practice schedule caused outsiders to assume that recently-unretired 44-year-old Philip Rivers will serve as the Colts' starting quarterback over rookie Riley Leonard when 8-5 Indianapolis plays at the 10-3 Seattle Seahawks this Sunday. 

However, Colts head coach Shane Steichen wasn't ready to reveal the identity of his QB1 when he spoke with reporters on Friday. 

Colts will "work through" quarterback decision for Seahawks game

"We’re going to work through that right now," Steichen said about his quarterback situation, per Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. According to Erickson, Steichen added that Rivers looked better in practice than the Colts expected. 

Rivers hasn't played since he featured for the Colts during the 2020 campaign, but he previously had Steichen as his offensive coordinator when the two were with the franchise now known as the Los Angeles Chargers. Steichen reached out to Rivers earlier this week when the Colts had no healthy quarterbacks on their active roster. 

Starter Daniel Jones suffered a torn Achilles tendon during Indianapolis' Week 14 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Leonard replaced Jones in that contest but was later diagnosed with a strained knee ligament. Steichen said that Rivers and Leonard both took snaps with the first-team offense during Friday's practice. 

Leonard completed 18-of-29 passes for 145 yards with no touchdowns and an interception against the Jaguars. He also rushed for a score in that defeat. 

Who is expected to start for Colts vs. Seahawks?

James Boyd of The Athletic is among the Colts reporters who think Rivers will ultimately get the nod over Leonard. Earlier in the week, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald confirmed that he and his coaching staff were "expecting" that Rivers would play at Seattle's Lumen Field. 

Shortly after Steichen spoke, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Colts as 13.5-point underdogs against the Seahawks. 

The Colts trail the 8-5 Houston Texans and the 9-4 Jaguars in the AFC South division standings. Additionally, Houston will enter the weekend sitting in the AFC's final wild-card playoff spot due to its Week 13 win over Indianapolis. 

The Colts will play at the Texans in Week 18.