The Colts have benched Anthony Richardson a second time in a short career. It’s fair to wonder what Richardson’s future is in Indianapolis.
In fact, Richardson’s agent, Deiric Jackson, has wondered that himself.
The Colts drafted Richardson in the first round knowing that he had limited experience, starting only 13 games at the University of Florida and seeing fewer than 1,000 snaps.
After the Colts named Daniel Jones the starter this week, Nate Adkins of the Indianapolis Star asked quarterbacks coach Cam Turner whether the Colts failed Richardson; Richardson failed the Colts; and/or they failed each other.
“I mean, no, as a position coach, you want to see your guy succeed and be successful naturally,” Turner said, via Drake Wally of SI.com. “I feel like I’ve tried everything I can do, and I feel like he’s given great effort in that aspect, too.
“I don’t think, either way, it’s one or the other. I just think right now, it’s not where . . . . The consistency’s just not where we want it to be.”
The Colts expect Richardson to sit for the entire season, learning and hopefully growing. General Manager Chris Ballard and assistant General Manager Ed Dodds made clear this is not a make-or-break season for Richardson, who is only 23.
“The plan for him is to continue to develop,” Turner said, via JJ Stankevitz of the team website. “He still has a job, a role, a responsibility, which is our backup quarterback, and he has to be prepared to do that. And then my job is to help develop him and continue to grow, because he is so young. We don’t want to give up on him. We want to keep growing, continuing to learn and develop as a quarterback.
“He’s missed a lot of snaps with injuries — offseason, in-season. You say three years, but really it’s going into Year 3 and with a lot of missed reps. I do want to point out the growth he’s had at the line and the presence and just taking the next step mentally as far as next-level thinking.”
