It took Jeff Saturday less than zero seconds of actual football to make his first puzzling decision as interim coach of the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts named Saturday, a former player who had never previously coached a college or NFL game, interim head coach on Nov. 7 after firing previous coach Frank Reich following their blowout loss to the New England Patriots in Week 9. The move was poorly received, with most people making their minds up before watching Saturday at the helm. However, if they didn’t make up their minds before Sunday, they likely did after seeing the move he pulled prior to the Colts’ matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Despite insisting Sam Ehlinger would remain Indianapolis’ starter under the new regime, Saturday immediately went back on his word and started Matt Ryan against the Raiders. Indy didn’t even try to keep it a secret entering the game either, with Ryan taking snaps from starting center Ryan Kelly in pregame warmups while Ehlinger worked with the second team.
The early returns from Ryan were positive, as he led the Colts to a touchdown on their opening drive.
The move to name Saturday coach has been wild from the start, with Colts owner Jim Irsay putting together one of the worst explanations the NFL has ever seen.
