BroBible
Even when he’s no longer the starter, it seems as if Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson still can’t seem to evade criticism.
Richardson, the fourth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, lost his starting job to Daniel Jones in the offseason. And while the move was heavily criticized, all Jones has done since is lead the Colts to a 3-0 start while performing as one of the NFL’s top signal callers.
Richardson, meanwhile, has been relegated to mop-up duty. But even then, he drew the ire of Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin in brutal fashion on Wednesday.
Mike Tomlin says he told the team to keep Anthony Richardson in the game last season
“Keep Richardson upright. Don’t put Joe Flacco in the game.”
(Via @steelers) pic.twitter.com/kWzdHOsycf
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 25, 2025
Tomlin was asked about facing Minnesota Vikings backup quarterback Carson Wentz this week. He told media members that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for the Vikings, using Richardson to explain why.
“We were in a similar situation, a year ago we were playing in Indianapolis, and I commented to the guys, ‘Keep Richardson upright. Don’t put Flacco in the game,'” Tomlin said. “And Flacco ended up in the game. And I think that’s oftentimes one of the things you can run into when you run into a veteran guy.”
Tomlin tried to clarify that he meant it as respect to Wentz, not a shot at Richardson. But it’s hard to see it any other way.
Flacco did end up playing after Richardson got injured in the first quarter. The veteran QB went 16-of-26 for 168 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-24 victory for Indianapolis.
Although, to Richardson’s credit, he was 3-of-4 for 75 yards and added a further 24 yards on the ground prior to leaving the game injured.
In recent years, we’ve seen quarterbacks such as Geno Smith, Sam Darnold, and now Jones shake their “bust” labels in new locations. Maybe Richardson can do the same in the future. However, he has a long way to go until he can get to that point.
The post Mike Tomlin Put Anthony Richardson On Blast With Hilarious Story About 2024 Steelers-Colts Game appeared first on BroBible.
