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This afternoon's game between the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans at Lucas Oil Stadium will likely involve a lot of bad quarterbacking, as Zach Mettenberger will start for Tennessee against Indy's fourth string quarterback - Stephen Morris, Josh Freeman, or Ryan Lindley. As of Friday, Colts head coach Chuck Pagano didn't know which of those three would start, saying that a decision might not be made until Sunday morning.
This morning, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that the Colts are likely to go with Freeman, who they had in for a workout on Monday and signed on Tuesday, in today's regular season finale.
Colts likely to start QB Josh Freeman today vs. Tennessee, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 3, 2016
In his NFL career, Freeman has appeared in 61 games (starting 60) and has completed 1,164 of 2,020 passes (57.6%) for 13,724 yards (6.8 yards per attempt), 80 touchdowns, and 67 interceptions for a 77.8 passer rating. In addition, he has rushed for 922 yards and four scores, averaging 4.7 yards per carry.
He was drafted in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and over the next five seasons he started 59 games for the team. He posted a 95.9 passer rating in 2010 and threw for 4,065 yards and 27 touchdowns in 2012, but midway through the 2013 season he fell out of favor with the organization, was benched, and then released. The Vikings picked him up, but after a disastrous start he was released. He spent offseason or training camp stints with the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants since then, but he hasn't thrown an NFL pass in two years. This year, he played in the FXFL with the Brooklyn Bolts.
None of three options for the Colts were great ones, as starter Andrew Luck is still out with a kidney/abdominal injury, Matt Hasselbeck is out with a shoulder injury (and back, ribs, and jaw injuries), and Charlie Whitehurst was placed on injured reserve earlier this week with a hamstring injury. Freeman saw a lot of reps in practice and seemed to be the most likely to start, though it was no guarantee. Regardless of which quarterback the Colts start, head coach Chuck Pagano acknowledged that they'd have to simplify the playbook a bit since the quarterback is still learning the system.