With the Indianapolis Colts back from their bye week, interim head coach, Jeff Saturday, shared his plans for Matt Ryan and the quarterback position.
The last time the world saw the Indianapolis Colts was in Week 13 against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. Losing 54-19 in front of the entire NFL world, the Colts were probably eager to put the game behind them. Unfortunately, Indy had a bye week, meaning it would be two weeks before the team could redeem itself with a better performance.
Part of the team’s poor performance was quarterback Matt Ryan. Against Dallas, Ryan completed 21-of-37 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns. However, Ryan threw three interceptions and lost a fumble. This led to many suspecting that the Colts would return from the bye week with Matt Ryan going to the bench for the second time this season, but this time, for good.
With the team now back in the building, interim head coach, Jeff Saturday, spoke with the media and said that his plan is to still start Ryan entering Week 15 and hopefully for the rest of the year. That means on Saturday against the Minnesota Vikings, Ryan will be starting and Nick Foles will be his backup.
Colts HC Jeff Saturday says the team will stick with Matt Ryan at quarterback heading into Minnesota on Saturday.
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) December 12, 2022
Matt Ryan is still the starter for the Colts
In 11 games with Indianapolis, Ryan has completed 67.8% of his passes for 2,875 yards and 13 touchdowns. He has had some bright moments where he led the Colts on some clutch scoring drives, however, his tenure has been bogged down by costly turnovers. Ryan currently leads the NFL in both interceptions and fumbles with 13 and 14 respectively.
Not that a veteran quarterback like Ryan needed to be told, but Saturday shared with the media that he did talk to Ryan about cleaning up the “casual and careless turnovers.” The Colts know firsthand the impact of turnovers. Last year, Indy was benefiting from taking the ball away, and now, giving the ball away is one of the biggest things costing Indianapolis games.
Many fans probably would’ve liked to see Ryan on the bench again but that won’t be the case, at least not in Week 15. Saturday and the Colts still believe Ryan gives Indy the best chance to win and the team will try to do just that on Saturday against the Vikings.
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