Riley Leonard was a full participant in the Colts' Wednesday practice before their Week 15 game against the Seattle Seahawks; the rookie quarterback was cleared to return to practice after sustaining a knee injury on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"It feels good," Leonard said Wednesday before practice. "They cleared me for practice, so excited to get back out there, test it out a little bit. But feels really good."
Leonard made his unofficial NFL debut on Sunday after Daniel Jones left the game in the first quarter with a torn Achilles. Leonard played three full quarters, completed 18 of 29 passes for 145 yards with an interception and a rushing touchdown in the Colts' 36-19 loss. Another touchdown pass to Michael Pittman Jr. was taken off the board due to an offensive pass interference call.
"It's very difficult, but that's the nature of the game," Leonard said on Sunday after the game. "Obviously, your first thought is to pray for Daniel and hope he's great because that's not how you envision getting snaps, right? I always envision myself working and working and developing into a starter, (a position) that I earned. Whether I earned it or not is kind of irrelevant. Daniel went down; my turn was up. It's super unfortunate to see that, but hopefully everything works out. We'll be praying for him for sure."
Leonard has operated with uncertainty throughout the entire season. He started out as a third-string rookie who, realistically, wouldn't set foot on the field. Then, when Anthony Richardson Sr. sustained a fractured orbital bone, Leonard was promoted to the backup quarterback behind Jones and became just one play away from seeing game action.
Nothing changed for Leonard at any point in that process, though; he prepared the same way every week, no matter what. That won't change this week, either – even with 44-year-old Philip Rivers joining the Colts' practice squad and being evaluated for his readiness to start on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.
Head coach Shane Steichen said Wednesday that they would "see how the week goes" for both quarterbacks and make a decision at the end of the week. So, until then, Leonard is only focused on one thing: what he can do for himself.
"As far as I know, I'm going to go out there and give it my best," he said. "I'm just here to play my best, be my best at practice today."
