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There’s an injury update regarding Colts’ 3rd-year quarterback Anthony Richardson...
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Indianapolis Colts incumbent starting quarterback Anthony Richardson ‘fully expects to be ready to go’ for the team’s training camp.
The soon-to-be 3rd-year quarterback recently experienced inflammation in his surgically repaired right throwing shoulder and has been shut down for the team’s minicamp for rest:
“It’s the AC joint that he suffered an injury on in 2023, and there’s some inflammation from that,” said ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. “Richardson went really hard this offseason and in OTAs. He was throwing a lot, sometimes hundreds of footballs a day.”
“So he felt some soreness. Some inflammation. He reported it to Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who did the surgery two years ago. They looked at the scans. Told structurally this is okay. Just an inflammation and rest/soreness type issue.”
“So he fully expects to be ready to go for training camp, but it is an issue. Make no mistake, especially with Daniel Jones. They’re paying him some decent coin to potentially be the starter.”
Following the shoulder surgery in 2024, Richardson experienced soreness in his shoulder after resuming throwing, so this isn’t exactly uncharted territory for the young quarterback.
To be fair, Richardson isn’t the only top quarterback prospect from the 2023 NFL Draft Class that has recently been experiencing pain while throwing, as the Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud also recently had reported ‘general soreness’ and has been shut down for a bit this offseason.
That being said, Stroud doesn’t have Richardson’s oft-injured track record, as the former University of Florida standout has missed 19 starts for the Colts over the past two seasons—albeit two of those were the result of a benching near midseason last year.
In what’s been publicly stated as an open offseason starting quarterback competition with veteran addition Daniel Jones, those are valuable first-team reps that Richardson is now losing.
Longtime Colts general manager Chris Ballard has already stated one of the biggest issues plaguing Richardson has been his continued availability—having been unable to consistently stay healthy during his first two seasons with Indianapolis:
However, at the very least, it’s encouraging that Richardson is expected to be full ready to go for the team’s training camp in late July—where the heated summer competition will be officially on with Jones for the Colts’ QB1 status.
