Daniel Jones is giving the Colts every reason to breathe easier.
The big question hanging over Indianapolis as the 2026 season approaches has been simple: how ready will Jones be after tearing his Achilles tendon late in the 2025 season? For a while, that injury cast a shadow over everything.
But at Colts training camp, Jones has done exactly what the team needed to see. He’s been on the field, he’s been taking part in team drills after being cleared a few weeks ago, and he hasn’t missed a practice since.
Jones said the work he put in during rehab gave him confidence that he’d arrive in camp ready to go.
“I've felt good through the whole camp so far,” Jones said, per ESPN. “I knew I would.
You try to push yourself in the rehab in preparation for camp, knowing what to expect. I felt really good and I stay on the recovery part of it to make sure I'm available and out here every day.”
That kind of availability matters, and head coach Shane Steichen didn’t sound like a man worried about his quarterback’s recovery. After watching Jones go through the full range of throws, Steichen came away impressed.
“We tried all the throws, we tried accuracy throws, all that stuff, and he’s on fire right now,” Steichen said. “It’s awesome to see.”
While Jones appears to have settled things at the top of the depth chart, the backup job is still unsettled. Steichen said neither Anthony Richardson nor Riley Leonard has separated himself yet, and consistency will decide it.
“The guy that's most consistent is going to win that job,” Steichen said. “Those guys are battling.
It's back and forth right now. There's been flashes, but yeah, there's work to be done for sure.”
That’s a very different picture from the 2025 offseason, when Jones first arrived in Indianapolis. Back then, he was seen as someone who might push Richardson, though many still expected the younger quarterback to end up as the starter.
Instead, Jones won the job before the season and backed it up quickly once games began. In the first two months of the year, he completed more than 70% of his passes and threw 13 touchdowns against just three interceptions.
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