Saturday night’s Peacock-exclusive game between the Bills and Chargers could have been a lot more interesting, if former Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman’s information about former Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is accurate.
Via TMZ.com, Merriman said earlier this month that Rivers, who was last seen nearly upsetting the Bills in the wild-card round of the 2020 playoffs as the quarterback of the Colts, still wants to play.
“I can tell you,” Merriman said, “Phil still wants to play.”
Merriman said that Rivers, 42, hasn’t officially retired because he still wants to play.
Surely, Rivers would be a better (or at least more interesting) option for the Chargers than Easton Stick. All due respect.
If Merriman said what he said after December 10, there could be something to it. That day, Merriman and Rivers reunited for tight end Antonio Gates’s induction to the team’s Hall of Fame. Rivers might have mentioned something to Merriman that day about not truly being done.
“I still think Philip can play another year or two if a team gets down here in the playoffs and they need a quarterback to come off the street,” Merriman said. “Phil can do it.”
But here’s the reality. In a season that has featured 58 different starting quarterbacks and counting, Rivers hasn’t gotten a tryout. There’s no evidence he’s even gotten a phone call.
For Rivers to play again, someone has to want him.
Maybe someone eventually will. Last year, the 49ers were ready to add Rivers to the Super Bowl roster, if they had beaten the Eagles without Brock Purdy in the NFC Championship. And with Jimmy Garoppolo still nursing at the time a foot injury at the time, Rivers might have gone straight from the couch to the starting lineup.
Maybe he’s simply waiting for opportunity to knock as the playoff field shrinks and his chance to chase a championship comes into sharper focus. In most years, waiting for a quarterback to get injured is a Great Pumpkin-style vigil. This year, with quarterbacks being injured at a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/shawne-merriman-claims-philip-rivers-114153218.html
Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports
Publish date : 2023-12-22 11:41:53
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