A day after playing – and being hit – for the first time in 1,800 days, Philip Rivers didn't notice much of a difference this Monday versus how he felt on hundreds of in-season Mondays from 2004-2020, a timeframe that now stands as his first stint as an NFL quarterback.
"I actually feel good this week," Rivers said. "Wasn't so bad. A typical Monday postgame that I can remember."
The 44-year-old Rivers was sacked once – it came when he slipped and fell down, got back up, then gave himself up again and wasn't really hit – and absorbed three quarterback hits in the Colts' 18-16 Week 15 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at Lumen Field.
Rivers was hit on consecutive dropbacks early in the first quarter of Sunday's game, first as he threw by linebacker Derick Hall on a second-and-10 and then after he threw by defensive tackle Leonard Williams on the ensuing third down. Both times, Rivers popped right back up, quickly answering the looming question of how he'd respond to the physicality of the NFL after such a long layoff.
"The guys up front did a great job," Rivers said. "Obviously didn't take a lot of shots – certainly a few. But those were actually helpful."
It wasn't until the fourth quarter that Rivers was hit again; on a second-and-seven just after the two minute warning, he backpedaled and threw the ball away while being tackled. He ripped a back-shoulder completion to wide receiver Alec Pierce on the next play, which ultimately set up Blake Grupe's go-ahead 60-yard field goal with under a minute left.
Rivers completed 18 of 27 passes for 120 yards with a touchdown and an interception (which came on a last-ditch throw) against the Seahawks, with the Colts' game plan focused on running the ball and having Rivers get the ball out quick. Of Rivers' 27 attempts, 18 came on throws that traveled less than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage; he completed 16 of those 18 passes for 87 yards with an average time to throw of 2.15 seconds.
On throws that traveled 10-19 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, Rivers completed two of six passes – the completions were a second-and-11 toss to tight end Tyler Warren over the middle in the second quarter, and that down-the-sideline connection to Pierce in the fourth quarter. Rivers was 0-2 on passes of 20+ air yards, with the first one nearly a completion to running back Jonathan Taylor down the near sideline in the first quarter, and the other a chuck-and-pray interception with 11 seconds left.
How much of Rivers' passing chart was due to physical limitations versus a specific game plan on the road against a top-three defense remains an open-ended question, at least for the viewing public (and San Francisco 49ers). Internally, both Rivers and his coaches believe there's more this offense can unlock with him behind center as the Colts look to end a four-game losing streak and re-ignite their playoff hopes down the stretch.
"I don't feel any really limitations pushing the ball down the field," Rivers, who will start against the 49ers, said. "Am I gonna throw it 60 yards? No, but I can't name many times I ever did that anyway.
"But if you get it out on time in the things that we can do, I don't think that there's like, 'Oh, we can't call this, or we can't call that.' It'll be a solid plan that the staff puts together and and we'll have a great week of practice and go out and execute."
This all came with acknowledgement, though, that Rivers and the Colts don't have much time to get this plane to cruising altitude.
"I do think it's going to continue to improve," Rivers said. "The key is going to be winning along the way."
