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If you’re an Indianapolis Colts who was hoping that young quarterback Anthony Richardson might finally be healthy for the entirety of the season in 2025, now is a good time to look away. Colts head coach Shane Steichen gave a worrying update on Thursday about the shoulder injury that cut short Richardson’s rookie season.
Richardson, the fourth pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Florida, suffered a grade-three AC joint sprain in Week 5 of his rookie season the Tennessee Titans. He had surgery to repair the sprain shortly after and missed the remainder of the season. While he returned in time for the start of his second season, Richardson suffered multiple additional injuries that limited his effectiveness. Now, it appears that the shoulder injury has popped up again
Per Shane Steichen – QB Anthony Richardson is dealing with a shoulder injury and will not participate in mini-camp next week. pic.twitter.com/obF7ggLAvk
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) June 5, 2025
Steichen told reporters on Thursday that Richardson is set to miss Colts’ minicamp due to a reaggravation of the same injury he suffered a rookie
“Doctors, trainers checked it out,” Steichen stated. “He’s got some aggravation in his AC joint. So we’re gonna sit him out this week. Obviously, he’ll sit out for minicamp. We’ll see when he comes back. Not gonna put a timetable for training camp on it, but when he does come back, we’ll ease him into throwing, and then we’ll go from there. The good thing is he’s not gonna need a procedure right now.”
That alone would be enough to worry Colts fans. Richardson was considered an extremely raw prospect out of college to begin with, and the constant setbacks due to injury have undeniably harmed his development. But it’s not just the shoulder injury.
Richardson told media members in January that he’s been struggling with a “chronic” disc injury dating back to eighth grade. He added that the injury got so bad at one point that he struggled to stand up.
“It might be chronic. But there’s plenty of ways to prevent it going on in the future,” he said at the time. “Now that I know what it is, I can find certain ways to stay out of a certain position, just make sure I’m healthy.
“I’ve been dealing with stuff like this since about eighth grade, but it’s never been this severe. It was definitely a little scary last week, not being able to move. But, like I said, I’m standing up now and I’m looking forward to playing this week if I can.”
So, let’s do the math. Since entering the league in 2023, Richardson has dealt with: a shoulder injury, a back injury, an oblique injury, and a concussion.
Meanwhile, he struggles mightily with both accuracy and reading defenses and his teammates have lost faith in him. If I were the Colts’ front...
