The Indianapolis Colts made the only decision they could and have decided to go back to 39-year-old Joe Flacco as the team’s starting quarterback, according to ESPN’s Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter.
On Monday, following the Colts’ 23-20 loss against their division rival, the Houston Texans, head coach Shane Steichen would not commit to sticking with second-year signal caller and No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson as the team’s starter, saying they were “evaluating” their options for the Week 9 matchup against Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings.
Richardson was an awful 10-for-32 passing for 175 yards and one touchdown and one interception against Houston. But even more appalling than that, he explained that his brief absence in the third quarter was due to him being “tired.”
Internally, the Colts maintain that Richardson’s short tenure as their franchise quarterback is not over.
One team source in the building characterized the benching as a “growth opportunity” and also insisted that the Colts “are not quitting on Anthony.”
“That will be the story, but that is not the case,” the source told ESPN.
Colts center Ryan Kelly, the longest-tenured player on the current roster, said Richardson “knows it’s not the standard that he needs to play up to and the rest of the team holds him to.”
Embed from Getty ImagesTen games into his NFL career, Richardson has shown flashes of development but nothing nearly consistent enough. In fact, he has markedly gotten worse.
Richardson’s rookie campaign was limited to four games due to multiple injuries. But he flashed his upside while averaging 5.4 yards per carry and 11.5 yards per completion. However, he displayed his potential, but 59.5% completion percentage left room for improvement.
In six games as a starter this season, Richardson has taken a significant step back, and the concerns that followed him from the University of Florida, where he attended college, have only grown louder. The explosive play are right on the money. Richardson leads the league with 16.2 yards per completion and has thrown multiple highlight-reel touchdown passes. But his 44.4% completion percentage is not acceptable from an NFL backup, much less a starter. Neither is his 4-to-7 touchdown to interception ratio.
After a bounce back season with the Cleveland Browns in 2023 where he helped the team make the playoffs, Flacco signed the Colts to back up Richardson this season. He has started three games, leading the team to two victories. He has a 65.7% passing completion percentage and has thrown seven touchdowns and only one pick while averaging 179 passing yards a game.
Richardson is the second quarterback taken in the first round of last year’s draft to be benched this season. The Carolina Panthers benched No. 1 overall selection Bryce Young last month for veteran Andy Dalton.
