INDIANAPOLIS — Brian Hoyer showed he can step in and deliver last week in relief action against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Now he's officially in line to get his first start as a member of the Indianapolis Colts.
With Jacoby Brissett officially ruled out on Sunday, the Colts will turn to the veteran Hoyer to lead their offense in their Week 10 matchup against the Miami Dolphins at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Brissett suffered an injury to his left knee early in the second quarter of last week's Week 9 loss to the Steelers at Heinz Field; he was rolled up on by left guard Quenton Nelson, who was knocked back into the quarterback's leg by a Steelers defender.
An MRI on Monday confirmed Brissett had a sprained MCL, but indicated he had sustained no serious damage. He was able to practice in a limited role all three days of practice this week, but the team also gave Hoyer added reps this week just in case he needed to start.
Brissett, who was originally ruled questionable for Sunday's game against the Dolphins, was officially downgraded to out today.
In steps Hoyer, the trusted veteran backup who has played in 66 career games with seven teams over his 11-year NFL career.
Signed just before the start of the regular season, Hoyer had a solid performance stepping in for Brissett in his first Colts appearance last week, completing 17-of-26 passes (65.4 percent) for 168 yards with three touchdowns to one interception (that was returned for a touchdown) for a passer rating of 105.9.
"When you look back at the tape Brian played pretty well. He played really well, in fact," Reich said earlier this week. "Obviously, the pick-six was the kind of big blemish on the 'scorecard.' But I think the reason is he has played a lot of football (is) he is really a smart player. He has really assimilated well to the offense."
Sunday's game against the Dolphins will represent Hoyer's 38th career start, and his first since Week 6 of the 2017 season, when he was a member of the San Francisco 49ers.
In a related move, the Colts today also announced they have elevated practice squad quarterback Chad Kelly to the active roster. Kelly is expected to serve as Hoyer's backup Sunday against the Dolphins.
