Indianapolis Colts Quarterback Daniel Jones Ruled Out With Achilles Injury

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones suffered an Achilles injury and was ruled out for the remainder of the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Late in the first quarter of the Sunday, December 7, matchup, Jones dropped back to pass and, as he delivered the throw, fell straight to the field and immediately grabbed his right ankle.

Frustrations from the non-contact injury boiled over as the medical staff made their way to Jones. The quarterback took off his helmet and slammed it into the grass before he was helped to his feet and taken to the medical tent.

Soon after, he went to the locker room.

Rookie Riley Leonard, out of Notre Dame, replaced Jones under center after the injury.

The Colts drafted Leonard in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Jones has been playing with a fractured fibula the last few weeks, which limited his mobility on the field during the Colts’ last two losses against the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans.

He didn’t miss any games with that initial injury, but Leonard shared a short message he got from Jones when he first went down.

“He got the MRI and I’m, of course, very curious,” Leonard said, per Stephen Holder of ESPN. “I just wanted to know as soon as possible. I called some [team staffers], and they had really long explanations. And then [Jones] just texted me, ‘I’ll be good.’ That’s it. Three words. ‘I’ll be good.’ I said, ‘All right.’ He’s a tough guy.”

Jones also recently revealed that he has been wearing a special 3D-printed pad on his leg. The leg protector was designed by Clark Bulleit and Kevin Gehsmann, Jones’ former classmates at Duke University.

“Lucky to have smart friends who are really close friends,” Jones told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “It’s pretty low profile and fits to my leg pretty well. I didn’t really notice it Sunday.”

Bulleit and Gehsmann played with Jones on the Duke football team in 2018. They’ve since founded a company called Protect3D, which provides specialty protective equipment to athletes.

“My buddy Kevin actually delivered it to me in Kansas City,” Jones said. “He flew [in] and came to the game, I got to see him afterward.”

The Colts are 8-4 on the year, coming off two consecutive losses. Sunday’s game against the Jaguars is meaningful for both squads, as the two teams are tied for first place in the AFC South.

“We just have to execute our stuff,” Jones told reporters before the matchup. “It’s a big game for us, I think we all know that. … They’re a good team, good defense, they do a good job rushing the passer. They create turnovers and make a lot of plays in the back end, so we’ll have to be ready to go.”

Jones is in the midst of a comeback season after spending the first six years of his career with the New York Giants. He spent a brief time with the Minnesota Vikings before revamping his career with the Colts.