Jacoby Brissett Named Colts Starter for Now, Not Playing Saturday

By William Pitts | Aug 23, 2019, 11:00 AM EDT

It looks like the Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback carousel has stopped for the time being, per a tweet from The Athletic’s Colts insider Zak Keefer.

Colts QB Jacoby Brissett won’t play tomorrow night vs. the Bears, per source.

Team sitting the majority of starters, and at this point, Brissett is QB1 until Andrew Luck returns to practice. That could come as early as Monday.
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) August 23, 2019

The injuries to regular starter Andrew Luck have hung over the Colts for the past two weeks, with the exact nature seeming to shift by the hour. At first, it seemed that Luck was only battling a calf strain on his left leg. Then, last week, the team revealed that the injury had shifted to a high-ankle sprain. While Luck will not need to undergo surgery, recovery has not happened fast enough, and he will not return for the Colts’ two remaining preseason games.

Meanwhile, Brissett has played exceptionally in Luck’s absence, including an 8-for-10, 100 yard performance against the Browns in the team’s second preseason game.

Head coach Frank Reich will name his starter for the regular season opener by this Monday – 10 days away.

Here’s what Frank Reich said on the topic Thursday: "At some level we wanna protect Jacoby, to be honest with you, regardless of Andrew(’s status). In theory, even if Andrew’s playing in Week 1, he still hasn’t taken a lot of reps, so you still gotta protect Jacoby."
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) August 23, 2019

Reich, a former NFL quarterback himself, is not taking any chances with the ones on his team. The “even if” in the above quote shows that he is prepared to start Brissett for the opening week of the regular season if Luck does not heal in time.