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There is a good chance Philip Rivers sees some action on Sunday when the Indianapolis Colts take on the Seattle Seahawks in a must-win game for the AFC South team.
Rivers, 44, came along Colts earlier this week as the team deals with a quarterback crisis. The potential Hall of Famer hasn’t played since the 2020 season, but when the Colts needed him most, he answered the call and dove into a playbook to get game ready.
But what can any NFL fan think Rivers will give the Colts with his 44? He has changed as much since the 2020 season as his opponents on the field. The Seahawks also have one of the best defenses in the league.
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Shawne Merriman #56 of the San Diego Chargers walks the sidelines during the game against the Seattle Seahawks on August 15, 2009 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
Shawne Merriman, Rivers’ former teammate, told Pakinomist Digital that he expected him to play well, but was concerned about one thing.
“It’s a tough week for him to come back. But I’ll tell you this, Phil’s advantage was never his athleticism. It was always his competitiveness,” he said. “He’s the most competitive player I’ve ever played with, that’s one. And two, it was his preparation and his mental and his knowledge of the game of football. Those two things were always going to make Philip the elite quarterback. That was it. So it’s not going to be that much different as far as moving around the pocket.
“The concern I have is you can’t replicate football without playing it. So you can have a coach out there, I’m sure he threw the football around with his high school kids. I’m sure he coached, but you can’t replicate football. So I think he’s going to go out there and look good. I think he’s going to go out there and actually look like he did five years ago.”
When rumors started about Rivers potentially coming to Indianapolis to work out, Merriman said he wasn’t surprised.
Philip Rivers #17 of the Los Angeles Chargers looks for an open receiver in the third quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on December 29, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (David Eulitt/Getty Images)
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The former San Diego Chargers star said that when he spoke with Rivers during Antonio Gates’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony, it didn’t feel like the quarterback was completely done with the game.
“I wasn’t shocked. And that’s why – a couple of years ago I put on Twitter that Phil was still ready to play and that was, I think, in 2023,” he said. “And everybody’s like, ‘What? Well, yeah, no’. He’s been out, I think three years at that point, and then literally a week or two later, it turns out that San Francisco 49erstheir quarterback situation with all their injuries that they considered bringing in Philip. And I said: I told you so.
“I had a conversation with Philip and he didn’t say, ‘Oh, I’m coming back to play,’ but when you talked to him it sounded like he was ready. It sounded like he was talking about the game in the present moment.”
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Merriman said he got together with Rivers and Drew Brees during Antonio Gates’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony and didn’t like that Rivers was completely done with football.
“So I’m not surprised at all and it’s the right decision by the Indianapolis Colts.”
