Stampede Blue
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Daniel Jones will undergo surgery on his Achilles. While the team has yet to formally confirm the diagnosis, the decision to proceed with surgery effectively confirms that the tendon is torn.
Daniel Jones’ season in Indianapolis is officially over, and his future with the Colts just got a lot more complicated. The veteran quarterback is expected to undergo surgery in the coming days after tearing his right Achilles tendon during Sunday’s 36–19 road loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.
The injury came late in the first quarter on a seemingly routine play. Jones dropped back, delivered a short completion to Alec Pierce, then crumpled to the turf without contact, immediately grabbing at his lower right leg. He tried to get up, slammed his helmet in frustration, and had to be helped off before heading to the locker room. He was ruled out shortly afterward and later returned to the sideline in a boot.
Sunday’s setback is especially brutal given what Jones has played through. He’d already been managing a fractured left fibula for a few weeks, grinding through practice and games to keep the Colts in the AFC South race. Teammates and coaches have repeatedly pointed to his toughness and presence as a tone-setter for the locker room, and that reputation only grew as he kept suiting up despite the leg injury.
Now Indianapolis has to move forward without the quarterback who helped redefine its offense in 2025. In his first season with the Colts, after previous stops with the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings, Jones had thrown for 3,101 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions, guiding Indy to an 8–5 record and putting them firmly in the playoff picture. Early in the year, the Colts ripped off one of the most explosive starts in franchise history, a burst that helped earn Jones the “Indiana Jones” nickname among fans.
With Jones sidelined, rookie Riley Leonard now takes over as the starter, thrown into the fire on the road in Jacksonville and likely for the rest of the season. Leonard showed flashes in relief, but the gap in experience is obvious, and the Colts’ margin for error in a tight AFC playoff race just shrank considerably. The team is also still waiting on the potential late-season return of Anthony Richardson, who’s been out since suffering an eye injury in Week 6, leaving the depth chart in flux at the most important position on the field.
For Jones, the focus now shifts to surgery and the long road back. Achilles repairs typically require 9–12 months of rehab before a player is fully cleared, and even then, not every quarterback returns to pre-injury mobility or confidence. The Colts brought him in to stabilize the position and push them back into contention; he delivered on that promise for three months, only to see his season — and perhaps his best chance to secure a long-term future in Indianapolis — vanish on a non-contact...
