Daniel Jones is still on track to start Week 1 for the Colts, and the latest checkpoint says it loud.
Jones participated in 7-on-7 drills during the second week of OTAs this week, his first real team work since tearing his Achilles last December. He is six months removed from surgery. He is making throws to a live secondary. He is, by every credible report, slightly ahead of schedule.
This is real progress.
Indianapolis tore up the Daniel Jones playbook the moment they signed him, and his recovery turned into the biggest 2026 question for the franchise. The Colts handed Jones a contract that paid him serious money to be their guy, and he tore his Achilles less than a week after putting pen to paper. Welcome to the NFL.
The standard recovery window for a torn Achilles is 10 to 12 months. Jones is hitting key milestones at six months. The team has been steadily increasing his workload throughout OTAs, and last week he was already running full sprints with the Colts trainers after practice.
Now he is throwing in 7-on-7s. The next benchmark is 11-on-11 work at training camp in mid-July, and the Colts are openly saying they expect him to be ready for that. Jones has gone even further publicly, telling reporters he “absolutely” expects to start the Colts’ Week 1 opener against Baltimore on September 13.
That is the kind of confidence that either ages incredibly well or becomes a meme. Right now, it looks like the former.
The football context here matters. Indianapolis bet on Jones because they did not have a clear path to a franchise quarterback elsewhere. Anthony Richardson never lived up to the No. 4 overall pick, and head coach Shane Steichen wanted a steadier hand to work with his offensive system. Jones, fresh off a turbulent run with the Giants and Vikings, was the bet.
If he comes back on schedule and plays at the level Steichen believes he can reach, the Colts are dangerous. The AFC South is wide open. Jacksonville is rebuilding. Tennessee is still finding its footing. Houston has C.J. Stroud, but the rest of the roster has not delivered on the hype. A healthy Jones could make Indianapolis the favorite in the division.
That is a real outcome and it is six weeks away from getting tested.
The recovery itself has been textbook. The Colts have been patient with the timeline. Jones has not pushed too hard. Trainers have controlled the volume. He started throwing at full speed in April, progressed through individual drills, and now sits at the 7-on-7 stage with the timeline still trending in the right direction.
There are no setbacks. There are no whispers. There is no reason to believe anything other than “Daniel Jones starts Week 1.”
What you should not do is assume he will be elite when he gets there. Achilles injuries take time to fully recover from, and the first year back is often the toughest. Aaron Rodgers came back from his and was clearly not 100 percent. Kevin Durant came back from his Achilles tear in basketball and looked like a different version of himself for a long stretch. Jones is going to feel the rehab in his footwork for most of the season.
But Indianapolis does not need 2018 Eli Manning. They need stable, decisive quarterback play with Jonathan Taylor running behind him. That is achievable.
The Colts bought Jones believing he could be that guy. He is doing his part on the rehab. Week 1 is on the table.
That is the only update that matters right now.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
