Jeff Saturday Fires Off On Kayvon Thibodeaux Celebration

Indianapolis Colts interim head coach Jeff Saturday called Giants defender Kayvon Thibodeaux's celebration following a sack that injured quarterback Nick Foles "tasteless" and "trash."

The Indianapolis Colts aren't exactly making headlines for their play on the field. At least not good ones. As a result, in the last couple of weeks, it's the actions of the team's opponents that have had people talking afterward.

Near the end of the first half in Sunday's humiliating, 38-10 loss to the New York Giants, Colts quarterback Nick Foles was sacked hard by rookie edge defender Kayvon Thibodeaux. As Foles lay on the field writhing in pain, Thibodeaux laid beside him, celebrating the play by making a snow angel gesture.

#Colts head coach Jeff Saturday’s response after no player intervened with #Giants rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux’s celebration next to an injured Nick Foles:

“Disappointed from the O-line perspective and for teammates in general. We protect our own.” pic.twitter.com/CkpVw2EpRt

— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) January 2, 2023

Thibodeaux celebrated for an excessive amount of time, which made it awkward given Foles' state. Thibodeaux even appeared to look over at Foles on the ground while he was still celebrating and later also appeared to do a "sleeping" motion when he got to the sideline.

The rookie's actions sparked plenty of outrage online afterward, and you can count the Colts' interim head coach among those who took exception.

“Tasteless from the celebration afterwards – just trash," Saturday told reporters about Thibodeaux's celebration. "Not a fan of it at all."

While the celebration itself was maddening for the Colts, it was also the lack of response from Foles' teammates that had Saturday feeling sour.

"Disappointed from the o-line perspective and for teammates in general. We protect our own," Saturday continued. "I mean, y’all know me. I’ve been here a long time, so I’m just going to tread lightly. Obviously, I didn’t like it at all and that’s where I’ll leave it.”

For what it's worth, Thibodeaux did apologize after the game, per Kimberley A. Martin of ESPN. “When I did realize that he was hurt, that’s when we started getting up," Thibodeaux said. "When you’re doing a celebration, you’re not looking to see who’s doing what. But I hope he gets well and I hope he’s all right.”

It was the capper to a disappointing day for Foles, who was making just his second start of the season. He finished 8-of-13 passing (61.5%) for 81 yards (6.2 YPA), no touchdowns, 1 interception, and 1 sack for a passer rating of 47.3.

Foles' injury was just part of a massively disappointing day for the Colts. It was their fourth-fewest yards (252) compiled this season, their sixth game scoring 10 or fewer points, and their ninth loss in the last 10 games.

With Foles injured, the Colts intend to hold him out of Sunday's season finale against the Houston Texans. They plan to start Sam Ehlinger, who took over for Foles, in his place, with Matt Ryan serving as backup.

If you're going to take a beating then it would at least be good to stand up for yourself and your teammates. Moving forward, at least as long as Saturday is at the helm, he doesn't want to see the lack of action again.

“Yeah, we’ll have a discussion about it.”

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