Sam Ehlinger: I Was Always Gonna Be Ready To Start

Sam Ehlinger will have quite the spotlight under which to throw the first-ever regular season passes of his NFL career.

The Indianapolis Colts quarterback is set to take over from offseason recruit Matt Ryan starting Sunday against the Washington Commanders.

The decision to bench Ryan in favor of the inexperienced Sam Ehlinger has been interpreted as an admission of failure. 

Both Sam Ehlinger and head coach Frank Reich couldn’t disagree more.

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“Nobody is waving the white flag. That’s not in my DNA,” Reich said Wednesday.

“That’s not in our players’ DNA. I would never do that in a million years.”

At 3-3-1, the Colts aren’t yet dead in the AFC South title race. It may not be a surrender, but the quarterback change is certainly an effort to stop the bleeding.

Matt Ryan (37) threw for 2,008 yards and nine touchdowns through the first seven games of the season. However, many of his NFL-worst nine interceptions put the team under immediate pressure.

“I love Sam. He’s been awesome since the day I got here,” Ryan said Wednesday.

“My job shifts now — now I gotta do everything I can to help him. He’s gonna do great for us.”

Read: Matt Ryan Reacts To Being Benched By Colts

“Always preparing to be the starter,” Ehlinger said.

“Regardless of when the opportunity was gonna come, I was gonna be ready, and that’s alleviated a lot of the stress. I mean, I can’t imagine if I weren’t preparing the way that I was and it’s like, ‘Hey, you’re up.’ “

“Anybody who knows Sam is he’s made for moments like this,” Reich said.