When it rains, it pours. Another injury, at the worst possible time, to Colts second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson has thrown a wrench into the Colts’ open quarterback competition.
Richardson is suffering from aggravation in the AC joint of his throwing shoulder, the same joint he sprained as a rookie.
Richardson, in collaboration with the Colts, chose to undergo season-ending surgery on the shoulder in 2023 in an effort to prevent long-term issues or damage with the young signal caller’s throwing shoulder. The new injury to Richardson’s shoulder stems from “stress over time,” rather than a new collision like the one he first suffered against their division rival the Tennessee Titans as a first-year player.
“Last week in practice, Anthony sustained an injury in his throwing shoulder,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. “Felt some pain in it. Doctors, trainers checked it out. He’s got some aggravation in his AC joint, so we’re going to sit him out this week. Obviously, we’re going to sit him out for minicamp.”
The Colts do not currently have a concrete timetable for Richardson’s return.
“We’ll see when he comes back,” Steichen said. “We’re not going to put a timetable for training camp on it, but when he does come back, we’ll ease him into the throwing, and then we’ll go from there. The good thing is there’s not going to be a procedure right now.”
Richardson’s lengthy injury history is one of the primary reasons and concerns the Colts signed former New York Giants starter Daniel Jones to compete with the No. 4 pick of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Florida just two years into Richardson’s career.
The young quarterback has missed half of his games, 17 of a possible 34, in two NFL seasons due to injury. Richardson missed a game as a rookie due to a concussion, 12 due to surgery on his sprained AC joint, two due to an injured hip/oblique suffered against the Pittsburgh Steelers and two at the end of the season due to recurring back spasms stemming from a disc issue discovered on MRI.
Staring that history in the face head on, the Colts decided to go out and get a veteran with starter capability, a player that ultimately turned out to be Jones.
“The No. 1 thing we have to figure out, and what Anthony’s got to work through, is staying healthy,” Colts general manager Chris Ballard said in his postseason press conference. “We’ve got to have competition at the position – just for one for the fact that competition makes everybody better. And then two, he’s not proven he can play 17 games.”
Jones will now work with the first stringers and take the lead in the quarterback race.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Colts also drafted Riley Leonard out of Notre Dame in the sixth round. He will take the rest of the snaps.
For the next two weeks of the team’s offseason, the Colts wrap up their offseason program with the team’s mandatory minicamp, but likely the early weeks of training camp. Steichen said the team believes Richardson will be back on the field “at some point” in training camp, but not for the start.
Jones, the former No. 6 pick out of Duke, who led the Giants to the playoffs before his tenure went off the rails, has impressed the Colts to start.
“He’s been great. … Acclimating to the offense, learning it, the system. Obviously, a smart guy, understands it, he’s picked it up,” Steichen said. “He’s a veteran guy that comes in early, late nights, does all the right things.”
The injury is a setback for Richardson’s progress, who has answered the tough questions in the past about the criticism that he is injury-prone by saying he understands it, and he had hoped to prove people wrong.
A lingering shoulder injury is a discouraging and difficult blow for the young quarterback that is trying to find his way in the league. The early returns on Richardson this offseason had been good.
“Obviously, it’s frustrating, but he is in good spirits,” Steichen said. “He was in a really good spot. He was throwing good. The meetings were good.”
What Richardson’s injury means for the ongoing quarterback competition is impossible to know at this point, particularly considering that there is no set timeline for Richardson’s return from a shoulder injury that no one expected.
Due to the uncertain nature of Richardson’s health, it is tough to gauge when he will be back to compete for the starting job.
“Daniel will get a lot of reps,” Steichen said. “And then we’ll see how it plays out.”
