INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones was cleared to participate in seven-on-seven drills Monday, marking yet another significant step in his comeback from a torn right Achilles tendon.
Coach Shane Steichen hinted last week Jones' workload may increase during this week's workouts. Jones has been throwing throughout Indy's offseason team activities, which began in April. Throughout the process, Jones has made steady progress though he's not expected to do full-team workouts until players report to training camp in July.
“To get him out there in seven-on-seven was huge, to get him in the fold, running plays with the guys,” Steichen said. “We'll keep that trend going, probably through the end of OTAs and then, obviously, get him into team stuff at training camp. It's spring, we don't play for a while, so we've got to be smart with his injury. But he's making great progress.”
Jones has not played since early December when he suffered the injury during a loss at Jacksonville. He also was playing with a broken bone in his left leg.
The two injuries derailed the Colts' strong start. He wasn't the same after the leg injury and he missed the rest of the season after getting hurt against the Jaguars.
Jones spoke with reporters last week, but was not available Monday.
“You just feel more a part of it, I think, prepping for practice and the meetings, being a part of the walkthroughs, kind of going through the plays, being back there with the quarterbacks talking through things,” Jones said last Wednesday. "It just feels more like you’re back in the swing of things and back a part of it. So, it’s been good this week to be back.”
The Colts continue to believe Jones is on schedule, perhaps even slightly ahead of schedule, in his recovery and remain hopeful the former Duke star and New York Giants draft pick will start the Sept. 13 season opener against Baltimore.
Jones also believes he'll be ready for Week 1 after signing a two-year contract extension worth up to $100 million in March.
But the depth chart behind Jones remains clouded.
Steichen reiterated Monday that Anthony Richardson, the No. 4 overall draft pick in 2023, and Riley Leonard, a late-round pick in 2025, continue to share the snaps with Indy's starting offense while Jones sits out. Richardson and Leonard are competing to be Jones' backup.
Longtime Los Angeles Chargers backup Easton Stick joined the mix Monday when Indy signed the free agent and released Seth Henigan. Steichen served as the Chargers quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for two of the six seasons Stick was with Los Angeles. Stick was with the Atlanta Falcons last year.
“We wanted to get him in, get him up to speed with everything, a really good competitor,” Steichen said while describing Stick. “He's really smart, has some familiarity with the offense. Obviously, things have changed, but we'll get him in here, get him up to speed and see where it goes.”
And they'll keep monitoring Jones, too.
“He's been throwing routes with the guys and we're telling him ‘Don’t scramble, it's seven-on-seven, be smart in these situations, if it's not there throw it out of bounds or if you want to drop it on the ground, I'm good with that,'" Steichen said. “But, yeah, he looked good out there today.”
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Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones (17) throws during the NFL football team's practice in Indianapolis, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones (17) throws at the NFL football team's practice in Indianapolis, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is reconsidering whether to move forward with a $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate his allies, a person familiar with his thinking said Monday, as the Justice Department said it would temporarily pause its implementation to comply with a court order.
The potential retreat is a nod to the legal setbacks the fund has encountered since it was announced two weeks ago and a recognition of the mounting political backlash from Republicans concerned by a lack of oversight of the money disbursement and the potential for payouts to participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The Trump administration had defended the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” established to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, as an appropriate corrective measure for what officials insist was weaponized law enforcement during the Biden administration.
But while some Trump supporters — including participants in the Capitol riot — celebrated the announcement of the fund, the reaction among Republicans in Congress has been decidedly more hostile.
The outrage came to a head last month at a closed-door meeting between senators and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas described on a recent episode of his podcast as “one of the roughest meetings I’ve seen in my entire time in the Senate.”
The furor has especially complicated matters in the Senate, where Republicans defiantly left town 10 days ago without passing legislation to fund Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies. Republicans who returned to Washington on Monday said they won’t have the votes to pass the Homeland Security spending bill until the White House works with them to place parameters on the fund. Many have pushed the administration to impose limits or scrap the idea altogether.
Amid the backlash, a person familiar with the matter, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the president’s thinking, said Monday that Trump was reconsidering whether to move forward with the fund.
But it was not clear whether the Justice Department's statement that it would pause action on the fund was definitive enough for the Senate to be able to move the bill forward.
“They need to say what they actually mean,” said Republican Sen. Jim Lankford. "They need to say, “We’re setting this whole thing aside.'”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated Monday that he hoped the White House would move to drop the fund.
“I do think the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves,” Thune told reporters.
He said any additional statements from the administration would be helpful, but: “I think the statement they made effectively shuts it down. We’ll find out.”
The Justice Department said it would comply with a ruling in Virginia on Friday by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who responded to an outside challenge to the fund by temporarily halting its implementation. The judge scheduled a June 12 hearing for arguments on whether to extend her order.
The department said in a statement that it strongly disagrees with the ruling but will comply with it.
“This Fund was open to anybody who was so weaponized, targeted, or persecuted, whether they were Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Independent, or otherwise,” the statement said. "The Department will abide by the Court’s ruling.
Separately, the federal judge in Florida overseeing Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS ordered Trump’s attorneys on Friday to respond to “grievous allegations” by settlement critics that the president abandoned his claims to avoid the court’s scrutiny of an illegal deal. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams gave them until June 12 to respond in writing to allegations of collusion and whether the case should be reopened because the court was the “victim of a fraud.”
As part of the settlement, the IRS agreed to drop all past and pending probes of Trump, his family and other associates over whether they’ve paid their fair share of taxes.
It was not immediately clear whether the retreat being signaled on the fund Monday also indicated that the administration was backtracking on its promised immunity from tax audits.
Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he arrives at the White House, Sunday, May 31, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks to a reporter outside the White House, Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
FILE - Rioters loyal to President Donald Trump rally at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
