Philip Rivers discusses being ‘not normal’ after NFL return, Colts’ loss to Seahawks
from Zac Wassink, with www.yardbarker.com/YardBarker.com
44-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers hadn’t played in an NFL game since the 2020 season, and he had spent a portion of his retirement working as a head coach at the high school level before he shockingly joined the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad last week.
Rivers then nearly helped Indianapolis earn an upset win at the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon, but his Colts ultimately suffered an 18-16 loss after Jason Myers kicked a late 56-yard field goal. After the Colts fell to 8-6, Rivers addressed how his body responded to being hit in a game for the first time since January 2021.
Philip Rivers’ wife knows he’s “not normal”
“I’ve never minded that part of it,” Rivers explained, per Stephen Holder of ESPN. “My wife always tells me I’m crazy because there’s been times in the last three or four years I said, ‘I wish I could just throw one and get hit hard.’ She’s like, ‘That’s not normal.'”
In total, Rivers completed 18-of-27 passes for 120 yards with a touchdown and an interception in his return. That pick occurred when he was attempting to produce a miracle with less than 10 seconds remaining in regulation.
“I’m grateful that I was out there, and it was a blast,” Rivers said. “But, obviously, the emotions now are disappointment. This isn’t about me. We’ve got a team that was scrapping like crazy to try to stay alive and get in the postseason, so obviously, we’re all disappointed. We came up just short.”
The Colts trail the 9-5 Houston Texans and the 10-4 Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC South standings. Houston began Monday holding the AFC’s final wild-card postseason berth. As of Monday morning, the ESPN Football Power Index gave the Colts an 11.8 percent chance to make the playoffs
Philip Rivers sends message to high school football team
Rivers’ Colts came up short at Seattle’s Lumen Field, but he nevertheless hopes his high school football team will take positives from watching him resume his playing career.
“Maybe it will inspire or teach them not to run or be scared of what may or may not happen,” Rivers said while speaking about the high school players, per Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star. “Hopefully, certainly, I think of my sons and those ballplayers that I’m in charge of at the school, that they’ll see, ‘Crap, Coach wasn’t scared.’ There is doubt, and it’s real, and again, the guaranteed safe bet is to not go for it. The other one is ‘Shoot, let’s see what happens.'”
The Colts next host the 10-4 San Francisco 49ers for a “Monday Night Football” game on Dec. 22. As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Indianapolis as a 5.5-point home underdog for that contest.