Riley Leonard has learned quite a bit from Philip Rivers ever since popping over to the veteran quarterback's backyard in Fairhope, Ala. with a few of his Notre Dame teammates last year.
The 23-year-old Leonard considers the 44-year-old Rivers a mentor and friend. He described his relationship with Rivers as "one of the best things that's happened to me." But as teammates over the last few weeks, the biggest thing the young QB learned from being around the veteran was about, as Leonard put it, the "beauty of football."
That's a takeaway Leonard has put at the front of his mind ever since learning Tuesday he'd be the Colts' starting quarterback for their season finale on Sunday against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. There's a lot of pressure on Leonard as he prepares to make his first career start, but it was instructive for him to see how Rivers kept his love of the game at the center of everything he did over the last few weeks.
"The biggest thing Philip taught me was to remember why you play the game," Leonard said. "I mean, he's 44 years old and I think the sole purpose of why he came back was because he loves football and he has so much fun out there. And I think as a rookie, there are a lot of things that I haven't learned yet emotionally. It's easy to look at all the things that don't matter. But what really matters is when you go out there, you give it your best."
Rivers came out of retirement after five years of Sundays on his couch for a few more chances to sling it around with the guys. Sitting in Week 18 was not part of the initial plan he and Shane Steichen cooked up back in the aftermath of Daniel Jones sustaining a season-ending torn Achilles'. But having Week 18 not count toward the Colts' chances of reaching the playoffs wasn't part of the plan either.
So on Wednesday, Rivers stood at his locker at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center dressed like the rest of his teammates – in team-issued Colts gear – and was asked if he would've liked to play on Sunday.
"I think it just made the most sense," Rivers said. "It's kind of a loaded question because wanting to play was part of the reason I was back. But it's also the opportunity with a chance to hopefully help us get in the postseason. So it just made the most sense for all involved to get Riley in there and let him get some work. He's been preparing and working all year. He's got a shot to go out there and we're all pulling for him."
The Colts selected Leonard with the No. 189 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft not with the hope he'd play this season, but with the expectation he would be a valuable addition to a quarterback room that was preparing for Jones to compete with Anthony Richardson Sr. Leonard knew he was going to be the Colts' third quarterback, the guy who only plays in case of an emergency.
That emergency – or emergencies, plural – have, unfortunately, materialized for the 2025 Colts.
The freak eye injury Richardson sustained during pregame warmups in mid-October moved Leonard closer to playing; at the time, Leonard's thoughts drifted more toward how Richardson was doing versus any level of excitement of being one play away. That one play then came just under two months later, when Jones tore his Achilles' early in the second quarter of a critical Week 14 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
And while Leonard had to wait to get his first career start – the Colts brought back Rivers believing he gave them the best shot to reverse what was then a three-game losing streak – now that he's getting it, he's kept the same perspective he had back in Week 6 after Richardson's injury.
"Realistically, right, I was the (third-string quarterback)," Leonard said. "I didn't look into how many threes at the beginning of the season get starts. But the more I realized the NFL, you look around, there's a lot of rookie quarterbacks starting this late in the season. I didn't really think it, but I was definitely hoping for it. But you don't think in the season, I want to start because the other guys got hurt. It's kind of what happened here, that's the reality of this business. We'll definitely be praying for everybody to heal up."
This week, though, will be a tremendous opportunity for Leonard, whose last start was for Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff title game against Ohio State last January. Leonard will go through a full week of preparation as an NFL starting quarterback. He'll take all the first-team reps in practice, which will help build trust between him and his teammates, before taking every snap behind center on Sunday at NRG Stadium.
For the first time, Leonard won't be leading the scout team or taking mental reps in practice. That has plenty of value regardless of how things go against the Texans.
"It's a huge deal." Leonard said. "Sitting back there, you can walk through the plays, but it's a lot different when you're the guy in the huddle and you can earn the trust of the guys throughout the week."
The Colts have already seen progress from Leonard, whether it's been behind the scenes or during the three-ish quarters he played against the Jaguars in Week 14. On a third-and-six at the Jaguars' 16-yard line in the third quarter, Leonard saw Jacksonville having seven defenders lined up at the line of scrimmage, adjusted his protection to get tight end Tyler Warren attached to the offensive line and moved wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. to a wider split outside the numbers to his right.
Jacksonville countered by racing safety Eric Murray from the right to the left of the formation, then walked safety Antonio Johnson up to the line of scrimmage. At the snap, seven Jaguars rushed, with Johnson dropping; while Murray looped inside and had a free run at Leonard, he understood where the pressure was coming from and floated a pass to Pittman for a touchdown – though it was called back for a pedantic offensive pass interference flag.
"He saw the blitz coming, got us in the right protection, threw a great ball to Pitt," head coach Shane Steichen said. "That's the strides you want to see."
The challenge for Leonard, now, will be figuring out how to attack at Texans defense that's No. 1 in points per game (16.6), No. 3 in passing yards per play (5.7), No. 3 in takeaways (26), No. 4 on third down (35 percent) and No. 5 in sacks (46) entering Week 18. But Leonard, as is the case with his approach to everything that's been thrown his way this year, has the proper mindset about this next upcoming challenge.
"You play at this level," Leonard said, "you want to go against the best of the best."
