Colts

The Colts will start QB Riley Leonard in Week 18’s season finale. Veteran QB Philip Rivers said he’s had his eye on Leonard and thinks he’ll have a long career in the NFL.

“Riley is a pro,” Rivers said, via ProFootballTalk. “Riley is going to work at it hard, and obviously I don’t want to put a ceiling on anything that he can do, and certainly will always continue to pull for him. But I said before he ever got drafted, or even early on when he was at Notre Dame, when I got to be with him and some of his guys, I was like, ‘He’s going to be a double-digit guy in the NFL.’ To what extent that is, who knows, right? Is he a starter? He’s one of those guys that is talented enough throwing it, and he’s obviously athletic enough to run around and he’s going to work at it because he cares enough about it that he’s going to be around somewhere for a long time.”

• Colts HC Shane Steichen on QB Anthony Richardson, who wound up missing the remainder of the season: “Praying he comes back…over time hopefully he’ll get better…he’s a talented player. Spirits are up.” (Widlic)
• The Colts worked out DB Wyett Ekeler, TE Peyton Hendershot and LB Joseph Vaughn on Tuesday, per the NFL Transactions wire.

Jaguars

Jaguars HC Liam Coen said that QB Trevor Lawrence is hitting his stride after the two spent time talking this offseason about how they could create a symbiotic relationship.

“Yeah, Trev’s definitely been playing at a high level. I mean, when I first got here, we had a lot of honest, open conversations about what his goals were, where he wanted to go within his career and his position,” Coen said, via SI. “And yeah, it took a little bit of time, and that’s why so many of these quarterbacks need that time, right? Timing and circumstances matter.”

Texans

• Texans RB Joe Mixon has stayed on the Non-Football Injury list since the summer after suffering a foot/ankle injury. According to Aaron Wilson, Mixon underwent a procedure away from Houston’s medical staff, which caused the running back’s recovery to stall: “[Mixon] got some procedures on his own, away from the Texans, not from the Texans medical personnel, and it apparently affected the foot, the blood flow, and progress turned into a stall.”
• Wilson added that Mixon underwent electromagnetic therapy: “The reason there’s so much mystery about this is that Joe Mixon prefers it that way … there was electromagnetic therapy that was done to try to reduce inflammation in the foot.”

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