Indianapolis (8-5 straight up, 7-5-1 against the spread) quarterback Daniel Jones will miss the rest of the season after sustaining a torn Achilles tendon in Sunday’s 36-19 loss at Jacksonville. It was the 11th consecutive loss for the Colts at Jacksonville.
Shane Steichen’s team has now lost three games in a row and four of its last five, going 1-3-1 ATS in that stretch.
In 13 games, Jones has completed 261-of-384 passes (68.0%) for 3,101 yards with a 19/8 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He has 164 rushing yards, five TDs and a 3.6 yards-per-carry average.
Jones had connected on 5-of-7 throws for 60 yards with an interception before getting injured against the Jags, who are now atop the AFC South standings with their 9-4 record. They have a one-game lead over both the Colts and Texans, who won 20-10 last night at Kansas City as four-point road underdogs.
Backup rookie QB Riley Leonard replaced Jones, completing 18-of-29 passes for 145 yards with one interception. He had five rushing yards and one TD on two attempts.
It was Jones’s second career NFL appearance. He previously threw a pair of incomplete passes in his debut at garbage time of a 38-14 win over the Titans in late October.
Jones, a sixth-round pick out of Notre Dame, suffered an unspecified knee injury yesterday, according to Steichen’s remarks at Monday’s presser.
When asked if Leonard would be ready to play Sunday at Seattle, Steichen said, “That’s the hope. We’ll see how it goes.”
Making matters worse, Steichen said QB Anthony Richardson still hasn’t been cleared to return to the field. In a freak accident while warming up with a snapped resistance band before an Oct. 12 home win over Arizona, Richardson suffered a fracture orbital bone.
When asked about Richardson’s return earlier today, Steichen said, “He won’t be this week. He’s still working through. Obviously, it’s an eye; it’s very delicate, and so he’s just resting it, and once the doctors and trainers clear him to be activated. That’s just where it’s at right now. Still just healing up.”
The Colts have veteran QB Brett Rypien on their practice squad. He’s appeared in 11 career games and produced a 2-2 record in four career starts.
Rypien has completed 98-of-168 career passes (58.3%) for 950 yards with an abysmal 4/9 TD-INT ratio.
As of Monday afternoon, most books had the Seahawks listed as 12.5 or 13-point home favorites with a total of 42.5. The Colts were +600 on the money line.
FanDuel has the Jags as -180 ‘chalk’ to win the AFC North. The Texans have +170 odds, while the Colts are now 22/1 longshots.
Jacksonville and Houston have a split a pair of regular-season meetings.