Colts’ QB Matt Ryan Opens Up About Frustrations from Benching
Being demoted is never fun.
When someone is demoted, it usually means they are not living up to expectations. The person is not performing as needed and changes must be made to achieve the desired results.
It can be a hard pill to swallow if you have never gone through something like that. Feelings of disappointment, frustration, and doubt in one’s ability are bound to creep in.
Demotion is what Matt Ryan has had to deal with over the past couple of weeks. The Indianapolis Colts quarterback was sent to the bench after a Week 7 loss to the Tennessee Titans. While the official word was that Ryan was dealing with a shoulder sprain, former Colts head coach Frank Reich said that Sam Ehlinger would be the Colts’ starting quarterback for the rest of the season.
“It was probably the first time (being benched),” Ryan recalled.
Ryan has accomplished almost everything there is to do in the NFL. Ryan sits seventh all-time in passing yards and ninth all-time in passing touchdowns. He is a four-time Pro Bowler, a league MVP, and has played in a Super Bowl.
But after seven weeks, Ryan was struggling in the Colts’ offense. He had nine touchdowns to nine interceptions and had fumbled 11 times. He was running for his life behind an offensive line that failed to protect him, being sacked 24 times in seven games.
Ryan was definitely not the worst of the Colts’ concerns at the time of his benching. But the Colts’ head decision-makers, particularly owner Jim Irsay, thought a more mobile quarterback in Ehlinger would give the Colts a better chance to win. Irsay pushed the decision on Reich, and Ryan was relegated to the bench.
When Ryan was speaking to the Colts this offseason about a possible trade, Ryan was sold on playing behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL. He would have the backing of one of the best rushing attacks in the league as well, taking the pressure off of the 37-year-old quarterback. But with the offensive line struggling mightily, and the running game having a hard time getting going, nothing has gone as planned.
© IndyStar-USA TODAY NETWORK
As you can probably imagine, frustration began to set in for Ryan. He came to Indianapolis to chase a Super Bowl, and instead found himself benched for a sixth-round pick who had never thrown a pass in a regular season game before.
“Yeah, there’s definitely people I vented to,” Ryan revealed. “I think of my wife during this entire time. I mean, she’s unbelievable in how she kind of has a read for what I need and she’s incredibly supportive. But she hears probably some of the things you’d like to hear (laughing). But I keep them there. Again, you have family around you that you kind of support and friends and guys that I’ve developed really good relationships along the way that can kind of help you through those things.”
“This is another point that needs to be made crystal clear,” Reich said at the time of Ryan’s benching. “And I told this to Matt, ‘Hey Matt, we did not hold up to our end of the bargain. You came here and we promised you a top-NFL rushing game and we promised you great protection and we haven’t really, as an offense, delivered on that.’”
But it did not matter. The veteran quarterback was hurt. He had given his all on the field and done whatever possible to pull a struggling team to wins. In his first seven starts, Ryan had engineered four fourth-quarter comebacks and three game-winning drives. The situation the Colts found themselves in was not all on Ryan, but he was the one paying the price.
“I think we constantly as competitors, we all believe we’re the best, right?” Ryan explained. “That’s just how you think. When you’re told, we feel like someone else can do a better job for us, that part is hard. That’s natural. Again, I think back to where I’m at in my career and I think it fires you up just as much, but I think I know how to handle it better. I think I’m definitely more mature than I would’ve been at 27, 28, 30.”
© Jenna Watson/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK
Not only was Ryan frustrated with the benching, but many of his teammates were as well. Most of the locker room was shocked to hear that the change at quarterback had been made. While publicly, players echoed support for Ehlinger, many were upset that their leader had been benched.
At this point, no one would have blamed Ryan for checking out. This is not what he signed up for, and for a guy that has been one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL for 15 years, he could have retired into the sunset, and nobody would have blamed him. But that is not how Ryan carries himself.
“I think it’s probably natural to (check out) in those situations,” Ryan admitted. “But from the people I trust and the advice that I got from the people outside the building that I talked to, the one constant is you can’t assume anything in this league. You can’t make the assumption that you know how things are going to shake out.”
The Colts know that better than anybody recently. Last week, the Colts fired Frank Reich and hired Jeff Saturday as their interim head coach within a few hours, sending shockwaves around the league. As the Colts were getting used to their new coach, Ryan returned to the practice field. After great days of practice Thursday and Friday, the answer at quarterback became clear for Saturday. Ryan should be the starter.
“I saw Matt throw, and that was the first time I had seen him throw,” Saturday said. “He's coming off an injury and he put a good practice together on Thursday. So, Friday, I told him, ‘Go back-to-back.' And again, now this is my first experience really ever seeing him throw and he looked really good. I wanted to talk to the staff on Friday afternoon, but I knew what I was going to do, and I knew everybody was with it. I felt like Matt gave us the best chance to win.”
Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Ryan backed up Saturday’s confidence by turning in his most efficient day as a Colt. Ryan went 21-of-28 (75%) for 222 yards, a touchdown, no interceptions or fumbles, and a QB rating of 109.5 against the Las Vegas Raiders. Ryan also ran for 38 yards and a touchdown, including a career-long 39-yard scramble in the win.
The Colts, finally, came through on their promise to Ryan. The offensive line held up most of the afternoon, giving Ryan plenty of time to throw the football. The running game had a huge impact as well, with the team running for 207 yards, 147 of those coming from Jonathan Taylor. The offense did not have to be carried on the back of Ryan, and it showed.
But this week is a much tougher test as the Colts take on the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles suffered their first loss of the season Monday night and will be motivated to get back to their winning ways. But whether they are coming off a loss or not, Ryan knows this week will be a challenge.
“We knew it was going to be a challenge going into this regardless of what they did last week,” he explained. “This is a football team that’s played well all year. They’ve done a good job scoring points. Their defense has played well. They’ve dominated the turnover margin and it’s been a huge reason for their success. Regardless of what happened last week, we knew coming into this game this week, we’re playing a really good football team that it was going to take our best.”
Who comes out on top on Sunday between the Colts and the Eagles has yet to be determined. But one thing that has been determined is, as Saturday confirmed this week, Ryan will be the starter moving forward.
“Yeah, he’s my starting quarterback.”
Want more Colts content? Check out the latest episode of the Horseshoe Huddle Podcast!
Follow Andrew on Twitter @AndrewMooreNFL.
