Philip Rivers had an inkling that he might hear from the Indianapolis Colts shortly after quarterback Daniel Jones suffered an Achilles tear in their Week 14 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In a conversation with FOX Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer, Rivers shared that he was expecting Colts head coach Shane Steichen to call him about possibly unretiring. He got the call, and the 44-year-old Rivers will make his first start in five years in Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.
“On Sunday, when Daniel Jones first went down, I said, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s terrible. I feel so bad for him,’” Rivers told Glazer on “FOX NFL Sunday.” “But that day, for some reason, it popped in my head, ‘I wonder if Shane Steichen is going to call me.’ Sure enough, they did.”
Steichen asked Rivers: “How much do you think you have left on that arm?” He replied: “I don’t know. You guys tell me.”
Even though Rivers was anticipating the call, he still wasn’t fully prepared.
“It was almost like Dennis Quaid from ‘The Rookie,'” Glazer said of his conversation with Rivers. “He said, ‘I haven’t thrown to a moving target in several years.’ The funnier part was, he said, ‘I didn’t have turf shoes. I had to go into my old trophy case and get out turf shoes. That’s what I’ve worn all week.'”
Jay Glazer talks to Philip Rivers about his return to the NFL
Rivers had a tryout with the Colts on Monday before agreeing to a deal to join their practice squad on Tuesday. But with backup quarterback Anthony Richardson still on injured reserve with an eye injury and sixth-round rookie Riley Leonard dealing with a knee injury, the door was open for Rivers to start when practice began on Wednesday this week.
By week’s end, Rivers had earned the starting job. He told Glazer that he’s about 10 or 15 pounds heavier than the last time he took an NFL snap, but his familiarity with Steichen’s system could help the Colts on Sunday. Steichen was a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator during Rivers’ final six seasons with the Chargers, and Rivers even runs Steichen’s offense with the high school team he coaches in Alabama.
The Colts’ decision to pursue Rivers wasn’t the first time that a team has inquired about his availability. Simon Cortopassi, who is the athletic director and defensive coordinator at the high school where Rivers coaches (St. Michael Catholic School), told FOX Sports’ Greg Auman this week that there were three other occasions when Rivers contemplated a return.
Rivers is very comfortable in his post-playing career, he emphasized to Glazer, but he still has an itch to scratch.
“He said, ‘I want people to understand this is not me struggling post-career. I found my why,'” Glazer said. “But he said, ‘I really love to play football, and how many people get a shot to get to do this again? I don’t know how long it’s going to last. It could be a quarter, I don’t know. But I get to teach two great lessons to my kids. No. 1, don’t be afraid. No. 2, don’t live in doubt. There’s really only one way to attack doubt, and that’s to go out and find out.'”
Rivers certainly seemed happy to be back in the game in a Colts social media post ahead of their trip to Seattle to play the Seahawks. But he’s still got some familiarizing to do.
“He said that as of last night, he hadn’t met all of his teammates yet,” Glazer said. “But a couple of them have come over and said, ‘I was a really big fan of yours growing up.’”
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