The title Anthony Richardson wore into the locker room Sunday as the Indianapolis Colts’ starting quarterback is not the title he’ll have moving forward.
Just 10 games into his NFL career, Richardson has been benched, and his future in Indianapolis is murkier than ever. The Colts will start Joe Flacco on Sunday night in Minnesota, league sources said on Tuesday. They have chosen the 39-year-old former Super Bowl MVP turned NFL journeyman over the 22-year-old dual-threat signal caller who was supposed to become a franchise pillar.
Is the Richardson era over in Indy?
“Not at all,” a league source told The Athletic. The hope is that Richardson will sit, learn and grow behind Flacco before once again emerging as the team’s starting quarterback. But when — or even if — that happens remains to be seen.
“If he handles this the right way, he’ll be fine,” a league source said, and the team believes that with Richardson’s mental fortitude, he will. The second-year pro is sure to be disappointed. He was limited to four games his rookie year due to injury, and he only eclipsed that total by two this year before the Colts pulled the plug on his reign as starter.
As Richardson slides down the depth chart, his character will be tested — character he’s still developing.
Fair or not, the resounding image of Richardson’s time in Indianapolis is not when he tapped his shoulder after suffering a season-ending AC sprain in October 2023. It’s when he tapped his helmet last week in the third quarter of a pivotal division game and asked to be subbed out because he was “tired” after scrambling.
“Tired, I ain’t gonna lie,” Richardson said after the game. “That was a lot of running right there that I did, and I didn’t think I was gonna be able to go that next play. So, I just told (Colts coach Shane Steichen) I needed a break right there.”
At best, Richardson’s explanation made him look out of a shape. At worst, it made him look like a quitter.
Colts center Ryan Kelly, the team’s longest-tenured player, had a conversation with Richardson. Steichen did, too. Neither of them approved of Richardson waving the white flag in that moment, even if it was for just one play.
“He knows on those type of deals you can’t take yourself out,” Steichen said.
Perhaps Richardson should have lied. Maybe it would have been wiser to say he had gotten the wind knocked out of him, or that he felt woozy, or that his previous oblique injury flared back up. Almost anything would have been better than admitting he came out because he was tired. But since he didn’t lie, his honest-yet-naïve answer about needing a breather has been met with a wave of criticism from the NFL world, which Kelly deemed fair.
Steichen said Monday that Richardson’s tapping out wasn’t a factor in the team’s decision to reevaluate who will be the Colts’ starting quarterback. A league source later confirmed that the decision to bench Richardson, who’s 44.4 completion percentage ranks last in the NFL among qualified QBs and is the worst by a QB with at least 100 passes since 2013, is about his on-field performance.
The Real Reason Anthony Richardson Got Benched
His on field play has NOT been great, but I think this has way more to do with him taking a step back & learning how to be a pro. Flacco gives them the best chance to win NOW.
All 22 QB Breakdown: Anthony Richardson pic.twitter.com/hm8YACleuX
— Chase Daniel (@ChaseDaniel) October 29, 2024
But his teammates also “see everything,” a league source said. It was still Richardson’s job to know better, to never give an inch and to — above all — remember that even as QB1, his status isn’t a given.
“I got all the confidence in the world in A.R.,” linebacker E.J. Speed said on Monday. “We sitting at .500, looking to go above .500 next week and make a playoff push, and I’m sure everybody will shut up then.”
Speed is correct. The quickest way to shut everyone up is to play well and win. However, Richardson’s chance to do so, while also rebuilding his reputation among his peers, has been taken from him. He’ll have to take the long route and prove behind the scenes that he’ll never take his role for granted again.
The guy replacing him certainly hasn’t.
Flacco is 17 years into an NFL career that’s included the highest peaks and some low valleys. He’s won a Super Bowl and been the face of a franchise, and he’s been out of the NFL and looking for work. After filling in for Richardson in Week 2 while Richardson nursed a right oblique injury, Flacco spoke candidly about the last time he was in Richardson’s shoes as the starting QB — and the agony of being leapfrogged seemingly overnight.
“It was my last year in Baltimore. I hurt my hip and, man, I did not want to let Lamar (Jackson) get out there. That’s for sure. That was my team,” Flacco said. “And that was very hard mentally for me. I pushed it as far as I could in terms of trying to convince them to let me go out there and play.”
#Colts QB Joe Flacco, asked about Anthony Richardson prioritizing his health:
“I’ve been in that spot once. It was my last year in Baltimore. I hurt my hip and, man, I did not wanna let Lamar (Jackson) get out there. That’s for sure. That was my team, and that was very hard. …” pic.twitter.com/GKIdFtACeY
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) October 7, 2024
The situation Flacco was in with Jackson, an eventual two-time league MVP breathing down his neck, is not the same as the one Flacco finds himself in six years later. But that he still remembers the pain and heartache over not playing every snap during his Baltimore tenure still bothers him, and that’s a lesson Richardson must painfully learn during his demotion.
Jackson was going to replace Flacco at some point since the Ravens drafted him in the first round, but Flacco didn’t aid them by taking a play off because he needed to catch his breath. The only reason he didn’t take every snap was because he physically couldn’t, and by the time he could, the keys to the offense had been taken away and given to someone else.
Maybe Richardson will get another shot as the starter in Indianapolis or maybe not. But regardless of where he takes his next snaps, he isn’t likely to head to the bench when his lungs start to burn.
(Photo: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)
