Let’s make this a quick article. There is no backup plan if Daniel Jones gets injured. Zero.
The backup plan, as flawed as it may be, is currently healing a broken orbital bone after being smacked in the face during pregame warmups. That was it. That was the whole plan if Jones went down at any point in the season. The Indianapolis Colts put all their eggs in Jones’ basket and slated an incredibly unlucky and oft-injured backup to take over if he went down. With Jones on the injury report as limited with a calf injury, fans are starting to squirm a little in their seats.
Let’s make two things clear to start. Obviously there is a backup. Riley Leonard would take over and make his first NFL start against the 2025 Super Bowl runner-ups and three time champion Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on the road in one of the tougher places to play in the league. No biggie. The second thing is that Jones is not Peyton Manning, but the Colts are following a similar path they took when he was under center. There isn’t much need for a backup plan because if he goes down, the whole operation is upside down. Before you eat me alive, once again, Jones is not Manning, but Jones is playing well enough to consider that things don’t go the same way with another available quarterback simply stepping in to assume the role. As good as Jonathan Taylor has been, we saw what he was with Anthony Richardson back there. Injured or not, he couldn’t find as many holes or break free as often because teams didn’t respect the quarterback’s ability to pass and would load the box.
Good news is that this could all be for nothing. Players pop up on the injury report and out of an abundance of caution are limited in practice. The areas of concern are that it is a calf and the history of this organization and injuries. Something that is supposed to be minor all of a sudden lands someone on IR for half the season. We saw it with Andrew Luck, Shaquille Leonard, Jelani Woods, and the aforementioned Taylor . “Minor” injuries or ones that are close to healed seemingly drag out. Here’s hoping this is just a tweak and no big deal. Maybe the Colts are playing mind games with the Chiefs. Maybe they are playing mind games with fans.
Regardless of the severity of the injury, there is no plan B. For this season, Daniel Jones is plan A-Z if the Colts are ultimately going to have success. This seems like an odd statement given the take many had back in August, myself included, but here we are. Jones is the present and looking like the future. He has a history of injuries, so the Colts need to do a better job this offseason putting someone behind him who can come in and cover if needed. Maybe Riley Leonard is that guy. No clue. At this point, however, most fans don’t want to find out.
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