Jaguars - 36, Colts - 19
Q. As a quarterback, you got a moment's notice coming into a game like that. How hard is it?
RILEY LEONARD: It's obviously difficult to be put in that situation, but that's something -- it's pretty obvious when you're a second string quarterback, that you're one play away. When that thing happens, you've got to prepare for that.
There's a lot of things that you can think about when you go into a game, but I try to just focus on the little things, focus on my preparation, focus on preparing like I'm a starter. Daniel does a great job of helping me do that.
Two days ago I'm at his house, studying the game plan, quizzing each other on the playbook and defensive coverages that we can expect. I really appreciate him just taking me under his wing. Shoot, we lived together the first three or four weeks of the season before I found a place.
He's been great to me in my preparation. That way when I do go in like today, I wasn't too much out there.
Q. Shane mentioned that he could have stayed in the locker room, but he wanted to be out there and be there for you guys. How much do you respect a guy like that? Do you expect that to be who he is by nature?
RILEY LEONARD: Daniel is the toughest guy that I've ever been around by far in my entire life. He's the most competitive person that I've ever met. It's no surprise he came back out there and cheered us on.
I remember going over to the sidelines, and he was the first one to put the raincoat on me, the first one to ask me what I see on that play and help me out, what to expect in certain situations.
It's just exactly who he is. Whether he's playing or not, he's very consistent, win or lose. I really respect that about him.
Q. What's the emotional difficulty of going in and making your first big set of plays in the NFL as a rookie quarterback while also seeing a guy and a teammate that you're really, really close to going down with a tough injury like that?
RILEY LEONARD: It's very difficult, but that's the nature of the game. Obviously your first thought is to pray for Daniel and hope he's great because that's not how you envision getting snaps, right? I always envision myself working and working and developing into a starter that I earned. Whether I earned it or not is kind of irrelevant. Daniel went down; my turn was up.
It's super unfortunate to see that, but hopefully everything works out. We'll be praying for him for sure.
Q. Obviously there will be a lot more preparation the next four weeks, but what does today do to help you get in and get your feet wet?
RILEY LEONARD: I think the biggest thing today for me was just walk off to the sidelines and have guys like Quenton Nelson come up to me and say he believes in me. Everybody on the sideline was just very supportive.
So that's always good for a rookie quarterback who went into the season as a third string. You start taking odds into the equation, there's a small probability that you'll play nevertheless have the potential to start.
To have guys come up to me, really cool. It means a lot to me. Even after the game, after struggling in a few areas, they still say they believe in me. So I take that and run with it.
Q. You step into a position with the NFC South playoff push. How quickly do you have to reshift your mindset?
RILEY LEONARD: Yeah, I've never been in this situation before. I'll probably lean on guys that have, maybe ask them how they handled it.
I really just lean on God. Some people talk about in bible studies, there's a Greek term called Kairos versus chronos. Kairos is God's timing. Chronos is when we think our timing should happen. Who am I to question God and his timing for my life and my career? I'll just lean on the chronos in this situation and trust in Him.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports