The Indianapolis Colts released a long injury report on Wednesday to begin their week of practice as they prepare for the divisional matchup in Week 12 against the Tennessee Titans and among the names was quarterback Philip Rivers.
The veteran quarterback injured his toe laying a block on Packers edge rusher Za’Darius Smith in the Week 11 win over the Green Bay Packers. While he’s likely to be listed on the injury report all week, Rivers isn’t worried about missing Sunday’s game.
“I feel pretty good. I think I definitely could have gone today. I think it’s a little bit of – probably the smart thing to do, then me getting better at my stubbornness as well,” Rivers told reporters Wednesday. “I think it’s the best approach. Obviously, with our schedule this week, having tomorrow off for Thanksgiving, just a couple more days of rest and be ready to be out there on Friday.”
Rivers has been incredible for the Colts through 10 games of the season. Outside of one or two games, the 38-year-old quarterback has been every bit the upgrade that the Colts believed he would be.
Rivers is a competitive player so there isn’t any lack of incentive to be out on the field. However, he does have a streak of 234 consecutive starts to continue. That’s the longest streak among active players and the fourth-longest in NFL history.
Rivers is surely aware of the streak that so many NFL greats are listed along with him.
“Yeah, it really is. It’s certainly important to me and I’m thankful for it that I’ve been healthy enough to be out there and I do think there is something about that availability being there each and every week,” Rivers said. “Certainly, there are circumstances that you can’t, but thankfully I’ve been able to. I think there is a fine line there. You don’t just try to keep that alive to keep it alive. This isn’t one of those instances, but it definitely is a special one for me.”
Rivers seems confident in his chances to play Sunday, which is bit of a relief given how long the injury report is to begin the week. The Colts are already potentially going to be without defensive linemen DeForest Buckner and Denico Autry, both of which are currently on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
“Thinking about defensive backs, running backs and all those guys, I can only imagine how tough it was to deal with something. I don’t think we’re in any way close to the magnitude of things like that,” Rivers said. “It’s a little different, but thankfully my position there is not a lot of cutting and – I’ll be fine.”