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While Jeff Saturday can’t offer the Indianapolis Colts much in experience, he does have a fiery leadership quality about him. That was on display in Saturday’s press conference on January 2.
Saturday ripped the Colts offensive line and New York Giants rookie defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux in front of the media Monday. Saturday expressed his disgust in Thibodeaux for celebrating with snow angels after sacking Colts quarterback Nick Foles on January 1.
Foles was laying on the turf injured while Thibodeaux celebrated.
“Tasteless from the celebration afterwards. Just trash. Not a fan of it at all,” Saturday told the media on January 2. “Disappointed from the o-line perspective and teammates in general. We protect our own.”
In the video of the press conference, Saturday appeared to want to say more about the incident, but he refrained. Instead, he concluded that the offensive line would “have a discussion about it.”
“You all know me, man. I’ve been here a long time. I’m just going to tread lightly. Obviously, I didn’t like it at all, and that’s where I’ll leave it.”
Nick Foles Ruled Out for Week 18
Even before discussing Thibodeaux’s sack of Foles, Saturday ruled out the veteran signal caller for Week 18.
“Nick is really sore, obviously, on the whole side of his body,” Saturday said. “A lot of pain, and he’ll be down this week.”
Saturday then declared Sam Ehlinger the team’s starting quarterback for the season finale. Matt Ryan will serve as Ehlinger’s backup.
Ehlinger completed 9-of-14 attempts for 60 yards with his first career NFL touchdown pass in relief of Foles, who had 81 passing yards and an interception in Week 17. The Giants routed the Colts, 38-10.
In three appearances, Ehlinger has completed 62.1% of his passes for 364 yards with a touchdown and interception this season. He’s averaged 5.5 yards per attempt and rushed for 66 yards.
Despite his inexperience, Ehlinger has been Indianapolis’ best quarterback at taking care of the ball this season. But Ehlinger has taken 12 sacks in about 10 quarters of action.
Ehlinger is 0-2 as a starter.
Foles will finish the season with a 59.5% completion percentage, 224 passing yards and 4 interceptions with no touchdowns. He also went 0-2 as a starter.
Brian Daboll Responds to Thibodeaux Controversial Celebration
The Giants head coach also received questions about Thibodeaux’s sack snow angels from the media on January 2, but Daboll had quite a different tone than Saturday.
Daboll defended the rookie defender, saying he was “quite sure” that Thibodeaux didn’t realize Foles was injured.
Perhaps that was the case during the snow angels, but the CBS broadcast caught Thibodeaux still celebrating on the sidelines after Foles had left the field. It’s hard to imagine the rookie defender didn’t know Foles was injured at that point.
The Giants drafted Thibodeaux with the No. 5 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. After suffering a knee sprain in the preseason, Thibodeaux didn’t make his NFL debut until Week 3, and then got off to a slow start upon returning.
But the rookie has come on very strongly as of late.
In the past five games, Thibodeaux has recorded 3.0 sacks, 28 combined tackles, including 6 tackles for loss and 5 quarterback hits. During Week 15, Thibodeaux was outstanding, posting 12 combined tackles and forcing a fumble. He also recovered that fumble and returned it for a touchdown.
That production is something to be celebrated, but not while an opponent is clearly down with an injury.
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