Shane Steichen Would Not Commit to Daniel Jones, Then Called Him the Starter: What It Means for the 2-6 Colts
Shane Steichen pulled Daniel Jones with 11:53 left in a 42-7 loss to Jacksonville on Sunday, then stood at a podium and refused to say who his quarterback was. “I’m going to evaluate everything, every position going forward,” he said, per Colts.com.
By Monday he had decided. Pro Football Talk reported Steichen saying Jones “gives us the best chance to win right now.”
So the answer is the same quarterback, after the worst loss Indianapolis has taken in nearly four years. That is a choice, and the Colts are going to have to live with it for the next nine weeks.
What actually happened in Jacksonville
It was 28-0 at halftime. Jones finished 19-of-28 for 144 yards with one touchdown, to Josh Downs, and two interceptions, one of them returned 92 yards for a score. His passer rating was 62.2. The Colts gained 243 yards, converted 3 of 11 third downs and committed three turnovers. Jacksonville put up 366 yards and six touchdowns.
Colts.com called it the franchise’s largest margin of defeat in nearly four years.
Anthony Richardson finished the game and went 2-of-2 for eight yards, took a 10-yard sack and ran for five. It was his first regular-season action in more than a year.
Steichen’s other postgame lines were sharper than his quarterback answer. “The effort and the energy has to be there every week,” he said. “If not, you’re going to get beat like that.” And: “We’re going to find out who loves ball.”
Jones is not having a bad week, he is having a bad season
Indianapolis is 2-6 and has lost four straight. Jones has five touchdown passes and nine interceptions. He is completing 60.4 percent of his throws, the worst rate of his career, and ESPN lists his QBR at 39.5, the second-lowest of his career. He had taken 19 sacks entering Sunday.
Last season he threw 19 touchdown passes in 13 starts. This is a real decline, not a slow start.
The contract is the complication. NFL.com, citing Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport, reported Jones signed a two-year, $88 million deal with Indianapolis that runs through 2027, with $50 million in 2026, $38 million in 2027 and more than $60 million fully guaranteed. The Colts chose him in free agency, paid him like a franchise quarterback and have no cheap way out.
Which is probably the honest reading of Steichen’s Monday reversal. The depth chart behind Jones reads Richardson and then rookie Riley Leonard. Richardson has thrown two passes in 13 months.
The season already came apart around him
The quarterback is not the only thing going wrong here. Indianapolis fired general manager Chris Ballard after an October 18 loss to Tennessee and has not named a permanent replacement. On October 27 the Colts traded DeForest Buckner to San Francisco for a 2027 fourth-round pick and Quenton Nelson to Seattle for a 2027 third and a 2028 fifth. Both were in contract years. Jonathan Taylor and Downs have both been the subject of trade reporting with the deadline at 4 p.m. Eastern on November 10.
That is a front office selling parts, which makes Steichen’s “best chance to win right now” a strange thing to optimize for. There is not much left to win with.
What it means
Steichen said something similar a week ago, after a 16-10 loss at Minnesota, when he told reporters Jones “is our starting quarterback unless I let you guys know differently.” He has now said it twice in eight days, which suggests the decision is settled rather than situational.
Dallas comes to Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday. Miami is next, then a Thursday night at Houston. If Jones plays the way he played in Jacksonville across those three weeks, the question stops being whether Steichen changes quarterbacks and becomes whether a 4-year head coach with a fired GM above him gets to make that call at all. Athlon Sports noted this week that Steichen’s own long-term job security is not settled.
Indianapolis was 2-2 a month ago. The fastest way to waste the rest of a season is to spend it proving a $50 million decision was correct.
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.
