Following Daniel Jones’ season-ending injury last season, the Indianapolis Colts made the bold decision to bring in quarterback Phillip Rivers to lead the team for the remainder of the season.
Prior to joining the Colts for the 2025 season, Rivers had been out of football since the 2020 season.
So, as the Colts searched for answers at quarterback with Jones and Anthony Richardson on injured reserve, and Riley Leonard banged up at that time, how did the team land on Rivers?
As offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter explained in a recent interview on ‘NFL Spotlight with Ari Meirov,’ that decision started with Shane Steichen’s connection to Rivers from their time together in LA with the Chargers.
“After that Jacksonville game,” Cooter began, “Daniel was injured and we got our injury report back, and shoot, we were questionable on Riley. We were not sure and that was something we had to really take into account. So ideas were being thrown out and sort of batted a few around and kind of looked at each and said how crazy is this? It was at a point in the year where were 8-2, we had dropped a few, we were still in the playoff hunt and we weren’t ready to give up yet. We were looking for any way to battle through that, battle out of that.”
In his three games, Rivers completed 63% of his passes for 544 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions. He routinely put the offense into favorable looks pre-snap and helped the offense sustain drives.
Rivers and the Colts’ most impressive performance came in his first game, when Indianapolis had the eventual Super Bowl champion Seahawks on the ropes late in the game while on the road. It looked like a last-second field goal by Seattle to beat the Colts.
“Phillip did a little workout and threw the ball around and shoot, it was fun,” Cooter said. “Fun to be with him for a few weeks and we didn’t come through the way we wanted to at the end of the year but we sure gave it our best and we fought, battled, we didn’t leave a stone unturned trying to get where we wanted to get last year.”
Unfortunately, for the Colts, the team was unable to generate any wins down the stretch last season. Rivers said in early January that he would not be returning to the NFL following last season.
“I think they still got to make the Disney movie,” Cooter said of Rivers’ return. “It’s a great story. It was so fun to be a part of.”
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Colts’ Jim Bob Cooter on how Phillip Rivers signing unfolded in 2025
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Colts Wire / Colts Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
