Anthony Richardson, the quarterback for the Colts, might not play at all on Saturday, but he might play the entire game a few days later.
Colts GM Chris Ballard plans to deploy QB Anthony Richardson for at least a half in preseason finale—but what about Week 2?
Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard plans on deploying starting 2nd-year quarterback Anthony Richardson selectively the rest of preseason.
Specifically, Ballard insinuated on 93.5/107.5’s ‘The Ride with JMV’ during Wednesday’s radio show that Richardson may very well sit out Saturday night’s Week 2 preseason home game against the Arizona Cardinals.
However, he could play at least a half in the preseason finale on Thursday night less than a week later on the road versus the Cincinnati Bengals (via FOX59/CBS4’s Mike Chappell):
Richardson played just 7 snaps in the Colts preseason opener last weekend and initially looked a bit rusty—having not appeared in a game since Week 5 of last year’s regular season before his season-ending shoulder injury.
He completed 2 of 4 pass attempts against the Denver Broncos this past Sunday for 25 total passing yards during Week 1 of preseason.
Honestly, it was a little surprising that Richardson wasn’t given more preseason work. I know the Colts don’t want to run the risk of further injury, and by playing Richardson, it also means that you really need your first-team offensive line out there longer to protect him.
However, this is a recently turned 22-year-old who had 4 starts last year before he was shut down for the season and 13 starts at the University of Florida—meaning this is a young and developing quarterback who could really use the additional playing time and experience.
That being said, it does seem as though the Colts aren’t treating the preseason finale on August 22nd as solely a ‘play your backups game,’ as it’ll be more like the classic ‘dress rehearsal’ of years past with an eye towards final tuneups for the upcoming season.
