Daniel Jones Left Today's Game With an Achilles Injury and The Colts Are In Full Blown Panic Mode
I'm sorry, fellow Colts fans. My tweet there is probably a bit too optimistic. Unfortunately, with the event of today's blowout loss to the AFC South 1st Place Jacksonville Jaguars, the Colts have skipped the panic mode portion of the season and have gone straight into the, as my good friend Stathole puts it, "grab the violins and start playing on the decl" portion of their season.
It appears the Colts season now rides on the arm of Riley Leonard. The only healthy QB left on the Colts roster. A quarterback who for some not-especially-logical reason, I do have some hope for. He wasn't necessarily known for throwing the football in college. Which is typically something you'd prefer your NFL quarterback to be known for. But that's never stopped the Colts front office before (i.e. drafting Anthony Richardson 4th overall)
But for a QB who's barely had any reps with the 1st team offense (if at all), in the pouring rain, against a pretty darn solid Jacksonville Jaguars defense, he's wasn't awful. He had his moments. Not nearly enough moments to beat the Jags today.
However, in the spirit of being optimistic, Riley Leonard did multiple things today that could be classified as encouraging.
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The interception he threw wasn't his fault.
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But when it comes to Daniel Jones… I'd be pretty much flabbergasted if he wasn't out for the remainder of the season. The man was already playing football on a broken leg. A broken leg being protected by a piece of equipment made with a 3D-printer.
As far as the Colts playoffs hopes go, I no longer have them. If Riley Leonard somehow puts together a magical run against this schedule, I'll be beyond thrilled.
But I don't think Colts fans can truly expect him to pull that off. If Daniel Jones is out for the remainder of the season, the question now is did he do enough this year for the Colts to commit to him long term. If he was healthy, I'd be fine with it. I can't say I ever fully trusted the guy. But it's hard to find a good QB in this league. Clearly the Colts (as currently constructed) can win with him. But a Daniel Jones coming off a torn achilles… following a 9 month rehab… that would be a bit of a harder sell.