Daniel Jones Tore His Achilles And 2025 Is Officially The Cruelest Simulation

I genuinely don't know how to write this one.

Daniel Jones — the guy the Giants gave up on mid-season in 2024, the guy who spent a year being called a bust, the guy who signed a one-year prove-it deal with the Colts and was playing MVP-caliber football — tore his Achilles in the first quarter against the Jaguars yesterday. Non-contact. Just dropped back to pass and his leg buckled.

Season over.

This was supposed to be the greatest redemption story in recent NFL history. Jones signed with Indy after the Giants basically told him to kick rocks. The Colts started 7-1. Jones was completing 71% of his passes with 13 touchdowns to 3 picks through eight games. People were legitimately talking about him for Comeback Player of the Year. Some were even whispering about the MVP.

Then the wheels started wobbling. Jones fractured his LEFT fibula a few weeks ago but kept playing through it because that's who he is. The Colts dropped four of five. And Sunday, while trying to avoid pressure — probably compensating for that bad left leg — his RIGHT Achilles gave out.

He knew immediately. You could see it. He slammed his helmet on the ground while the trainers came out. Then, despite the torn Achilles, he walked off the field under his own power. Because of course he did. Because Daniel Jones is apparently one of the toughest human beings alive.

Rookie Riley Leonard — a sixth-round pick out of Notre Dame who'd thrown a grand total of TWO NFL passes before Sunday — had to come in and lead the Colts for the rest of the game. They lost 36-19 to the Jags. The Colts are 8-5 now and in very real danger of missing the playoffs after starting 7-1. If they do, they'd be only the sixth team since the merger to miss the postseason after a 7-1 start — and the first since the field expanded to seven teams per conference.

Here's the gut punch: Jones was almost certainly going to get PAID this offseason. Big multi-year deal. Vindication. A new chapter. Now he's looking at a 9-month recovery timeline and complete uncertainty about his future.

His teammates talked about how he came back to the sideline in the second half with a boot and crutches just to support them. Riley Leonard said Jones was the first one to put his raincoat on him and ask what he saw on each play. Shane Steichen said the locker room was "devastated."

Sometimes sports are cruel for no reason. This is one of those times.

Get well soon, Danny Dimes. You deserved better than this.