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With the Indianapolis Colts eliminated from playoff contention, they made another change at quarterback. The Colts will start rookie Riley Leonard Sunday against the Houston Texans, and send 44-year-old Philip Rivers to the bench, per ESPN.

The Colts turned to the Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist after Daniel Jones went down with a torn Achilles in the Week 14 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Despite losing all three of his starts, Rivers played better than expected. He completed 63% of his passes for 544 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. Those four passing touchdowns are tied for the third-most by a player 44 or older all-time.

"I told you guys I wasn't going to have any regrets about coming back and I don't," Rivers said. "Other than us not winning ... it's been an absolute blast for three weeks. If I go back and say, 'All right, now you know everything's going to happen, what are you going to do?' I'd do it all again. It's been absolutely awesome. So, yeah, I mean, if it's the last one, it's the last one."  

The Colts selected Leonard in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. The Notre Dame product led the Fighting Irish to the College Football Playoff National Championship last year, and completed 66.7% of his passes for 2,861 yards, 21 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Leonard was also known as a tough runner, racking up 906 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns in 2024. In his first extensive NFL action in Week 14, Leonard completed 18 of 29 passes for 145 yards and one interception, but did score a rushing touchdown. 

The 2025 season fell apart quickly for the Colts, as they lost six straight games following an 8-2 start. As Indy wraps up this disappointing campaign, Shane Steichen will get a look at the youngest quarterback on his roster.