Philip Rivers: Everything you need to know

Rivers is inactive for Sunday's season finale against the Texans. With Rivers inactive, Riley Leonard is slated to start Sunday's contest, with Seth Henigan set to serve as his backup. Rivers started the Colts' previous three games, but with the team out of playoff contention, the veteran QB will be kept out of harms way in Week 18.

Colts head coach Shane Steichen said Friday that the team has not yet decided whether Rivers will be active for Sunday's season finale against the Texans, and that recent practice-squad signee Seth Henigan will operate as the No. 2 quarterback behind Week 18 starter Riley Leonard, James Boyd of The Athletic reports. Rivers' post-retirement return for Indianapolis has officially come to an end with the team having been eliminated from playoff contention, so the Colts are opting to allocate available reps to younger signal-callers to close out the 2025 campaign. It's possible, though, that Rivers could be active in the No. 3 role or operate as the team's emergency third QB. Per Boyd and Jordy Fee-Platt of The Athletic, Rivers has already confirmed that he will retire for a second time after Sunday's season finale, bringing his playing career in the NFL to a permanent end.

Rivers is set to move to the bench for Sunday's season finale against the Texans with the Colts planning to have rookie Riley Leonard start at quarterback in Week 18, Stephen Holder and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com report. After they were officially eliminated from playoff contention over the weekend, the Colts will approach the season finale with an eye on opening up reps for younger players like Leonard. The 44-year-old Rivers will thus move into a backup role to close out the season, ending his brief run as the Colts' starter after he was lured out of a four-year retirement to rejoin Indianapolis following Daniel Jones' season-ending Achilles injury in Week 14. Though the Colts went 0-3 in his starts to see their playoff hopes dwindle, Rivers performed competently in his first NFL action since January 2021, completing 58 of 92 attempts for 544 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. Rivers is expected to head back into retirement following the season finale.