Daniel Jones is out for the season and the Indianapolis Colts are in crisis mode.
Jones ruptured his right Achilles on Sunday in Jacksonville, leaving the 36-19 loss in the first quarter as the Jaguars took sole possession of first place in the AFC South and the free-falling Colts (8-5) clung to fading playoff aspirations.
Backup Riley Leonard played the final three quarters on Sunday and suffered a right knee injury, head coach Shane Steichen said Monday. The Colts said there is no plan to activate Anthony Richardson, who has been on injured reserve following an accident during pregame warmups in Week 6 that left him with an orbital bone injury.
That might require the Colts to make a roster move. Brett Rypien is on the practice squad. Rookie tight end Tyler Warren is the team’s emergency quarterback.
“(GM) Chris (Ballard) and his staff are working through that right now,” Steichen said.
Leonard completed 18 of 29 passes for 145 yards with an interception and a rushing touchdown.
Jones has played only 29 total games in the past three seasons and ended multiple years on injured reserve with the New York Giants due to injuries (neck, ACL).
On Sunday, he crumbled to the ground with a non-contact injury as he delivered a pass on a third-down dropback. He slammed his helmet to the ground while being evaluated on the field and limped to the locker room under his own power, and the combination of disappointment and uncertainty was felt in the postgame locker room.
“That was definitely a gut punch,” Colts running back Jonathan Taylor said. “We’ve got to catch ourselves. You’ve got to find some way, somehow, to catch yourself. You’re going into a free-fall, whatever it takes, individually and collectively, to put your foot down … to say we’re not going to continue to let this snowball.”
The Colts dropped four of their past five games since starting the season 7-1 and have four games left against the Seahawks, 49ers, Jaguars and Texans. Those teams own a combined record of 36-16.
Jones, 28, is in his first season with the Colts after playing 5 1/2 seasons with the Giants and part of last season with the Minnesota Vikings. He was the No. 6 overall pick by New York in the 2019 draft.
He joined the Colts in free agency on a one-year contract and is scheduled to be eligible for free agency again in March. But he will unlikely be ready to work out for teams until June or July.
Jones had passed for 3,101 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions for Indianapolis. He was playing through a fractured left fibula.
