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The Colts eventually did bring in an accomplished veteran backup for Anthony Richardson, but was it the right guy for the job and soon enough?
Indianapolis Colts 2nd-year quarterback Anthony Richardson was reinstated this week as the starter, after a two-week benching because of the coaching staff’s purported “lack of attention-to-detail and preparation” expected from the team’s QB1.
Per ESPN’s Stephen Holder, those limitations were more as a result of his relative youth—at just 22-years-old, naivety, and ‘not knowing what he doesn’t know,’ more so than as a result of any indictment on his still well-regarded character and work ethic:
“Conversations with teammates and multiple sources have created a clearer picture of what transpired behind the scenes,” writes Holder. “What they laid out was the story of a young quarterback described as ‘naïve’ rather than resistant, a player who didn’t know what he didn’t know. The benching, according to a team source, was an effort to get Richardson’s attention.”
“Meanwhile, in the absence of specific information from the Colts, internet chatter was churning. But off-the-field rumors about character concerns were never accurate, multiple sources said.”
“‘He’s a great kid,’ coach Shane Steichen said. ‘I look at character as No. 1 of my pillars, and he has high character. You can work with that.’”
For what it’s worth, Colts head coach Shane Steichen indicated per The Athletic’s James Boyd, that Richardson had a ‘phenomenal week of preparation’ leading up this Sunday’s road game against the New York Jets:
We also know per Boyd, that Richardson met with fellow Colts team captains earlier this week to help open lines of communication and for them to better understand what he was going through and how they could in turn, help him regarding his growth.
From that perspective, it appears as though Richardson has initially. as Philip Rivers so eloquently once put it in a Colts uniform, ‘turned the corner.’
However, it also raises the question of whether the Colts ‘handed over the keys to the car’ too soon for a quarterback who turned just 21-years-of-age two months of May ago with only 13 collegiate starts at the University of Florida prior to being selected with the 4th overall pick in 2023.
Perhaps, too much was expected, too soon from Richardson which resulted in the recent grounding for the past two weeks, as he’s now allowed to come back from his room.
It’s been at least speculated that the Colts may not have been the clearest on the initial expectations of their starting quarterback position, where following in the line of former franchise greats such as Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, and I’ll even throw Philip Rivers out there for a season, that the QB1 is expected to be the locker room CEO of the organization (i.e, showing up first, leaving last, and being a tone-setter collectively within the clubhouse).
I’ll even go beyond that though.
Should the Colts have paired Richardson with a more veteran and polished backup...
