The Colts have relayed some intel as to why they benched Anthony Richardson.
Tuesday, phrase emanated that Colts coach Shane Steichen was elevating veteran Joe Flacco into the beginning quarterback position and that Richardson could be demoted for Sunday evening’s sport in opposition to the Vikings.
ESPN Colts reporter Stephen Holder shed some mild on the group’s resolution.
“They need Richardson to take a step again, take a break from the pressures of the job and attempt to develop throughout this time,” Holder wrote on X.
“That’s clearly totally different than what was stated beforehand, when the consensus was that he ought to play and be taught on the job.”
Holder added that Richardson was “fairly devastated” by the choice.
Richardson, 22, was chosen fourth general in final yr’s NFL draft out of Florida and the consensus was that he was a uncooked expertise with excessive upside.
Resulting from accidents, he has had simply 10 profession NFL begins, so he wasn’t precisely given the lengthy leash one would count on from a franchise that needed to have entered into the association realizing there could be rising pains.
“We aren’t quitting on Anthony. That would be the story however that’s not the case,” a supply instructed Holder.
Nonetheless, when Richardson admitted to pulling himself out of this past Sunday’s 23-20 loss to the Texans for a quick spell to catch his breath, along with a behavior of lacking throws that replacement-level NFL quarterbacks ought to full, the Colts risked shedding the locker room if they didn’t change to the regular hand of Flacco.
Flacco has appeared in 4 video games with two begins for the Colts this season, and has thrown for 716 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception.
Final season, the 39-year-old had a profession renaissance with the Browns, becoming a member of the group from off the sofa mid-season.
The Browns went 4-1 in his begins and made it to the playoffs as Flacco gained the AP Comeback Participant of the Yr.