INDIANAPOLIS — Philip Rivers has made the postgame walk to answer tough questions dozens of times over his previous 17 NFL seasons.
This time seemed different.
With the Indianapolis Colts having been eliminated from the postseason for a fifth consecutive year even before Rivers and his teammates took the field Sunday, the 44-year-old Pro Football Hall of Fame semifinalist knows he may have taken his last snap.
“It’s been an absolute blast for three weeks, and if I go back now and said, ‘All right, now you know everything that’s going to happen, what are you going to do?’ — I’d do it all again,” Rivers said after the Colts lost 23-17 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. “So, yeah, if it’s the last one, it’s the last one.
“I thought the last one was walking off the field in Buffalo (in January 2021), walking up that tunnel, and I was fine with that. I had tears those few days after that and I was at peace with that being the last one. So, certainly, if it is (the last one), I got three more bonus games that I never saw coming.”
Rivers provided two elements the Colts (8-8) needed when they brought him out of a five-year retirement. His passion energized the locker room after Daniel Jones suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon, and he gave the Colts a chance to pull themselves out of a historic second-half swoon in which they became just the sixth team since 1970 — and the first in 30 years — to start 7-1 and miss the playoffs.
But Rivers has lost all three of his starts, with the Colts’ overall skid now at six games.
His late interception in Seattle ended the Colts’ bid for a miracle rally. And an interception Sunday on a tipped ball allowed the Jaguars (12-4) to kick the tiebreaking field goal with 6:58 to play.
While Rivers took accountability for both miscues with his typical down-home demeanor, he knows he’s not the face of the Colts’ future.
So with one meaningless game remaining next weekend in Houston, the Colts could give Rivers one more start, but it might make sense for them to take a look at Anthony Richardson — the No. 4 draft pick in 2023 — or rookie Riley Leonard. Richardson has not been activated from injured reserve but has started practicing.
“I’ll figure that out Tuesday,” coach Shane Steichen said.
If Rivers’ career is over, again, five years after he left the first time, he has no regrets.
He rented a place in Indianapolis, moved his entire family back to Indy for the final month of the season and brought dozens of players from St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Alabama — where he’s the head coach — to Lucas Oil Stadium to watch his home finale.
In career start No. 423, Rivers surpassed Hall of Famer Warren Moon as the fourth-oldest quarterback to start in the NFL. Rivers played at 44 years, 20 days; Moon was 44 years, eight days.
If he makes start No. 424, Rivers would pass Vinny Testaverde — 44 years, 26 days — as the third-oldest, trailing only Steve DeBerg and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.
Rivers ranks sixth in league history with 425 touchdown passes and is eighth on the career passing list with 63,984 yards — just behind Matthew Stafford and 105 yards from moving past two-time Super Bowl winner Ben Roethlisberger.
Rivers knows he may not get that chance.
“I’m going to be on board and supportive of whatever the organization, Shane and whoever, however that decision is going to come to be,” Rivers said. “I’m sure I’ll have some conversation. It won’t just be a blindside Tuesday conversation for me. And I’m going to be on board to do what’s best for the guys.”