Indianapolis Colts Anthony Richardson ‘grateful’ for benching, renewed opportunity

Indianapolis foals head coach Shane Steichen shocked the football world when he was benched as the starting quarterback Anthony Richardson in favor of experienced backup Joe Flacco.

The move was made after a poor performance by Richardson against the Houston Texans that included the second-year quarterback taps out for a third-and-goal play because he was “tired.” Flacco now gave the Colts the best chance to win, Steichen said, and would allow Richardson to reset.

Two weeks after Steichen announced the quarterback change, the Colts’ head coach is ready to hand back the keys to the kid they took with the No. 4 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

“I’ve said the process, the process, for a long time and what I mean by that is the attention to detail in everything Richardson does,” Steichen said. “From the classrooms to the walkthroughs and the practices to the weight room, all those little things – it just has to be next level. That was talked about and we started working on that. So that was discussed with him for two weeks. ago and those are the conversations that took place.

“Over the past two weeks he has made progress in those areas, making great strides toward becoming a professional. Is he a finished product? No, he is not. My job is to help him get there, together with the rest of the coaching.” staff, but he is an amazing talent. Like I said, we never lost confidence in him and his abilities. That said, he will be our starter again. He’s going to start this week. He’s going to start the rest of the season and we’ll go from there.”

Richardson will lead the Colts offense when Indy takes the field against the Jets from New York. The benching was a wake-up call for Richardson, who didn’t know if he would get the chance to start another game for the Colts.

But Richardson took the job as a learning opportunity, going back to the drawing board and trying to prove he understood what it meant to be a pro and a franchise quarterback.

“Just shows that I’m willing to be a professional and I’m willing to sacrifice whatever I have to do for the team,” Richardson admitted. “I feel like over the last two weeks it’s definitely opened my eyes and given me the opportunity to have the opportunity to do that and just take a deeper dive and look inside myself and see what I’m really into So I’m grateful for the past two weeks and I’m quietly glad it happened.

Steichen and the Colts wanted to see more of Richardson in everything he did. The best quarterbacks in the NFL have an intense work ethic that surpasses everyone else in the locker room. Attention to detail must be present in every aspect of daily work.

That attention to detail is what Richardson was missing. Learning how to be a pro during the week and what that all entails as a franchise quarterback is what the 22-year-old Richardson is actively trying to accomplish.

‘I’m new to this. I’m still new at this. I’m still learning information,” Richardson said candidly. “But when it comes to professionalism you feel like you’re doing a lot of things right, but when it comes to sacrifice there’s always more things you have to sacrifice like time and things like that. So just being a professional and I just learn more about that. I’m glad Shane gave me the opportunity to do that.

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Richardson has also taken time over the past two weeks to focus on consistency in his work, both on and off the field. While much attention has been paid to how the quarterback is improving in his play, the Colts wanted to see improvement in his preparation.

Since the benching, Richardson has been more diligent with his film study and in the conference rooms, remaining an active participant despite not seeing the field. Now that he’s back on the field as a starter, that same attention to detail should not only be present, but taken to an even higher level.

“I’ve been working on consistency,” Richardson noted. “That’s always been something of mine. I’m trying to perfect that and just get better at that. Just being consistent in all aspects. But this week, and the last few weeks, I’ve been trying to focus on sacrificing more .The guys asked me to do certain things – even if I didn’t feel like it, man, you have to do it because it’s a sacrifice, and so they do it.

That sacrifice of spending more time in the building with film study, in the weight room, on the practice field and overall preparation is necessary from a franchise quarterback. Richardson didn’t know if he would ever get the chance to prove he could one day be a franchise quarterback for the Colts again. While the Colts never gave up on Richardson, it would be up to him whether he deserved another shot at the starting job.

The benching forced Richardson to look in the mirror and examine the areas he lacked in preparation and attention to detail. If he was ever going to take the field again, those changes had to be made.

The Colts now feel like Richardson gets it and is doing the things he needs to do to be successful.

“As a participant you never want to just stand on the sidelines,” Richardson explains. “You always feel like there’s an opportunity for you to go out and help the team. But sitting on the sidelines allowed me to just watch and see what certain things I could correct about myself – certain things that the team needed help with and I’m just forever grateful for the opportunity. I’m glad Shane felt like I was the man again.”

Because of the benching, Richardson never lost the confidence of the locker room. He never lost the trust of the coaching staff and front office. And Richardson never lost faith in Steichen, knowing that even if it wasn’t what he wanted, his head coach had decided to bench him with his best interests in mind.

In the meantime, Steichen received a lot of criticism in the media and by fans for putting the young quarterback on the shelf. The ambiguity of the situation fueled numerous rumors and led to frustration among a fanbase who felt like they had been lied to. Some continue to fully trust Steichen and the organization in the way they handled these unique circumstances.

But winning heals a lot of things. If Steichen’s decision to return to Richardson leads to a more focused and successful quarterback who can deliver wins and keep the Colts in the thick of the playoff hunt, much will be forgiven.

For Richardson, the only thing on his mind is doing whatever he can to help his team win football games.

“All I want to prove right now is that I’m willing to be the guy for this team,” Richardson said. “Anything they need from me, anything they ask of me, I’m going to try to do it the best I can. Whether that’s leadership, note-taking, meetings, playing style – whatever they need from me, I’m I’m willing to do that and show that to the team and to the fanbase because we’re all trying to win and that is the goal.”

Richardson is back in the starting lineup for the Colts after receiving the message loud and clear that what he was previously doing was not up to standard. With Richardson now working to not only meet that standard, but exceed it, only time will tell if the benching will be the turning point for a successful career as the Colts’ franchise quarterback.

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