Former first-round pick Anthony Richardson will watch from the sidelines as Daniel Jones leads the Indianapolis Colts into their season-opening matchup against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
It wasn’t all that long ago that Richardson was widely regarded as the future of the Colts franchise at the quarterback position. But unfortunately, injuries and inconsistent play have led Colts head coach Shane Steichen to opt to give established veteran quarterback Daniel Jones the first crack at the starting job heading into 2025.
Now, Richardson faces uncertainty about when his next in-game opportunity will come. Especially considering the fact that Steichen has made it crystal clear that his decision to start Jones is one that is expected to be for the entirety of the 2025 season.
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Richardson does, of course, have experience briefly seeing the bench before in his two-year tenure in Indianapolis. Perhaps most notably, Richardson was famously benched in favor of Joe Flacco for two games last season after removing himself from a Week 8 game against the Houston Texans.
This time around, it is expected that Richardson’s time on the sidelines will be far more extended, barring a significant change of heart from Steichen or an unforeseen injury.
Despite this, Richardson remains confident that thanks to the support he feels from his teammates, he will continue to grow as a player despite seeing limited or perhaps no game reps at all.
“They tell me they believe in me,” Richardson said in a recent conversation with James Boyd of The Athletic. “My teammates believe in me. So, I got no choice but to listen to them and believe that. They’re telling me one thing, and I gotta accept that, and I gotta live with it. I just gotta showcase that I’m still here, and I gotta keep growing.”
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At just 23 years of age, there is still hope that Richardson can figure things out and turn into a franchise quarterback, whether that be in Indianapolis or perhaps elsewhere, in the future.
Colts GM Chris Ballard has echoed as much in regards to his former top draft pick, recently stating how the organization has no plans currently to move on from Richardson despite opting to start Jones over him.
But clearly, only time will tell how much Richardson will truly be able to showcase any potential growth he is making from the sidelines while Daniel Jones leads the team into their Week 1 matchup against Miami.
For more on the Colts, head to Newsweek Sports.
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