INDIANAPOLIS – Jacoby Brissett might never start another game at quarterback for the Colts. But in the sense, he believes he will once again be a starter in the NFL, after failing to keep the job in Indianapolis in 2019.
Brissett said he was surprised when coach Frank Reich gave him the news last winter that they had replaced him with veteran Philip Rivers as starter. Reich acknowledged that Brissett, like all other players, was upset by the demolition.
“I still believe in myself,” Brissett said Friday in his first public remarks since Rivers’ arrival. “I know I’m a starter in this league. I know I can play at a high level. I did it last year.”
Brissett became the starter when Andrew Luck announced his retirement two weeks before the regular season last year. The Colts gave Brissett a two-year contract, giving him the chance to prove he could be the next franchise quarterback.
However, Brissett did not play consistently at a level needed to lead a team to the playoffs last year. He started strong in the Colts’ lead to a 5-2 record, including wins over playoff teams Houston, Tennessee and Kansas City. But Brissett, who suffered a knee injury at Pittsburgh in early November, fell into the stretch when the Colts lost seven of their last nine games to miss the playoffs.
He finished 29th in the NFL with 196.1 yards per game and was hesitant to take shots off the field.
General manager Chris Ballard gave a hint that change would happen when he said the jury was still on Brissett at the end of last season. Rivers is a 38-year-old veteran who has passed in his 16-year career for 59,271 yards and 397 touchdowns. Brissett said he still intends to compete, although Rivers is now the starter.
“I really can not say positively enough [things] about how he has been with this change, I think – I know no other word for it, to be here with me and also how he has just been, “Rivers said. He is an impressive man to be with. The way he works on it and then how helpful he has been with little things, ‘Here’s how we signal this. Here’s how I set this up normally. Here’s how I set it up. ‘Then the few things I find are,’ Gosh, can we do this? Can we do that? ‘He’s like,’ Yeah, I’ll learn it. What you are most comfortable with. ‘That he has been super helpful, gracious. “
Brissett still has significant value for the Colts. Reich has said they plan to have special packages for Brissett to get him on the field this season. And Brissett must be ready to step in and get started at any moment, especially with the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
Brissett, like Rivers, will be a free agent at the end of this season. “I know I will one day be a starter in this league again,” Brissett said. “Wherever possible.”
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