Colts QB Philip Rivers Quickly Settling in Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS — Say this for Philip Rivers, he’s not wasting any time getting acclimated with Indianapolis.
Rivers and his wife Tiffany moved their nine children from the Florida Panhandle to the Northside of his new NFL address about a week ago, which the Indianapolis Colts quarterback concedes was quite an undertaking.
Rivers also hit the ground running with teammates in leading throwing sessions with pass-catchers. He’s also organizing team workouts in the near future.
While Rivers, 38, benefits from having experience with Colts head coach Frank Reich and offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni after their work together in the Chargers organization — he knew about 85 percent of the playbook when signed in March to a one-year, $25-million deal — it’s important for the 17th-year quarterback to get on a field and become familiar with his new teammates.
It’s not so much about needing to throw the basic routes, Rivers said in a Wednesday Zoom video conference call. The on-field introduction helps in learning the subtleties of his pass-catchers, who develop a better understanding of what the quarterback expects.
“First, I mean obviously I know info gets out, it gets out all around the league, you hear how guys are throwing and getting together,” Rivers said. “I know that’s part of it. The fans want to know and people want to know their team is working and improving. But I’ve always at least preferred for at least our guys to know that it didn’t come from me that I’m trying to let everyone know what I’m trying to get done as far as organizing. ‘Wow, look at Philip, he’s getting the guys together.’ So it’s really not about that.
“But it certainly is important to all of us, important to all our guys, we get together and get some work done. We’ve gotten great work done in the meetings, but certainly, I haven’t met many of these guys in person, much less throw them a pass and or had a person-to-person conversation. We’ve actually, a handful of us, have already thrown together this past week and that will continue kind of as the summer goes. I plan and our family plans to be here for the rest of the summer.”
Rivers came away encouraged by the initial throwing sessions.
“I tell ya, the few sessions we’ve had, I really feel like we’ve gotten a lot out of these Zoom meetings,” he said. “So we start throwing and it really doesn’t feel like the first time once we get out there because we really have been in some ways speaking the same language, depending upon how long the player has been here, for many years. We’ve been hearing it together now the last seven, eight, nine, 10 weeks. Now we get on the field, it seems like we’re ahead of the curve a little bit from that standpoint.
“It will continue kind of intermittently throughout the rest of the summer. It’s those little things that come up. It’s not the matter of going out there and throwing a comeback, and throwing a curl, and throwing a shallow. Those things are good, we need that work. But it’s more the little conversation that comes up, or maybe seeing a guy’s body movement, going ‘Ooh, I felt how he did that at the top of the route.’ And ‘I like how that feels.’ Or ‘Hey, here’s what I’m expecting.’ It’s all those little conversations that come up in the next few weeks and throughout training camp that will be very helpful.”
Colts rookies are expected to report to the team’s Northwest side facility on July 22 with the rest of the team scheduled to check in on July 28.
How the Coronavirus pandemic could impact the NFL preseason and regular season is still an uncertainty, but Reich has advised his players to be prepared to practice on schedule. If the schedule is altered, then the team will adjust.
Rivers conceded his family move was quite an adjustment.
“I guess we’ve been here almost a week now,” he said. “It’s been great. I haven’t really moved in a long time. The last time we made a big, cross-country move, it was my wife and I and our oldest, and she was just 2 years old. It was quite a different move with 11 of us.
“But the transition has been smooth. The people I’ve run into so far around town have been very welcoming and we’re excited to be here.”
The Rivers have seven daughters — Halle, Sarah Catherine, Caroline, Grace, Rebecca, Clare, and Anna — and two sons — Peter and Gunner. Anna was the latest arrival in March of 2019.
Another switch from living in California has been the Indiana weather and when the sun goes down in this time zone.
“It’s been a pretty week,” Rivers said. “I’m getting a feel for the weather. These summers, I’m getting a feel for these summer nights, (they've) been beautiful, and getting used to it getting dark after nine o’clock, it’s been a little crazy. We’ve been out playing and look up and it’s 9:05 and it’s still light outside. It’s been a good transition so far, still getting settled in, but our whole family is happy to be here.”
(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)
