Anthony Richardson was back at quarterback in the Indianapolis Colts’ season opener against Denver – the first time he was on the football field in a live game since Week 5 of last year.
“It feels good,” Richardson said after the game. “I was able to go through my routine today. I put my pads on and took a few snaps. It all felt good.”
As predicted by Shane Steichen, Richardson and the starting offensive line were on the field for two series on Sunday. Richardson finished the game 2 of 4 throwing for 25 yards.
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The highlight for Richardson was a 19-yard catch-and-run pass to tight end Mo Alie-Cox during the second series. That play came about when the Colts were pushed back in their own territory and Denver sent a linebacker blitz.
On the Colts’ first possession, the Broncos sent a blitzer that ran unchallenged through the line, forcing Richardson to quickly get rid of the ball. On the second time, however, the Colts’ offensive line was able to get a hold of the rusher and slow him down, and Richardson was able to pass the ball to Cox, who caught it and a defender missed.
“I thought it was good,” Steichen said of Richardson’s performance. “I mean, the first time in over 300 days that he’s gone out there and played with his guys. He took seven reps. He made 2 of 4 there.”
“Obviously we wanted to start a little better on that first drive, but then we got knocked back, hit a nice pivot over the ball to Mo and got a third try that we just didn’t have, but it was good to just get the guys out in a game-like situation.”
As expected after going over 300 days between games, Richardson was a little rusty. On a third-down pass to Kylen Granson on the first possession, Richardson’s pass was a little too high and took him too far, resulting in an incomplete pass.
On the second possession, he faced another third down and completed a six-yard pass to Granson, putting him just one yard short of the first down, but the pass went a little too far back and could have come a little sooner.
“I just try to manage the game,” Richardson said. “I just take what the defense gives me. I feel like we missed a couple of plays, but it’s all good. We’re still working on chemistry and stuff and just building that up as an offense.”
Of course, the Colts ideally would have ended their first two possessions with touchdowns, but more importantly, it was simply to see Richardson back on the field in the starting offensive line as they continue to build on the chemistry they built under Steichen in year two and the continuity that exists.
The next step for Richardson and the Colts offense is to build on that performance, and they’ll have the opportunity to do that this week in some extremely competitive situations with two joint practices and a preseason game against Arizona.
“Throughout the process,” Richardson added, “there were a lot of things I really wanted to do – just practice and put my helmet back on. So I’m just taking it step by step, day by day. (Sunday) we had a game and it just felt good to be back out there.”
