The Colts have relayed some intel as to why they benched Anthony Richardson.
Tuesday, word emanated that Colts coach Shane Steichen was elevating veteran Joe Flacco into the starting quarterback role and that Richardson would be demoted for Sunday night’s game against the Vikings.
ESPN Colts reporter Stephen Holder shed some light on the team’s decision.
“They want Richardson to take a step back, take a break from the pressures of the job and try to grow during this time,” Holder wrote on X.
“That is obviously different than what was said previously, when the consensus was that he should play and learn on the job.”
Holder added that Richardson was “pretty devastated” by the decision.
Richardson, 22, was selected fourth overall in last year’s NFL draft out of Florida and the consensus was that he was a raw talent with high upside.
Due to injuries, he has had just 10 career NFL starts, so he wasn’t exactly given the long leash one would expect from a franchise that had to have entered into the arrangement knowing there would be growing pains.
“We are not quitting on Anthony. That will be the story but that is not the case,” a source told Holder.
Nevertheless, when Richardson admitted to pulling himself out of this past Sunday’s 23-20 loss to the Texans for a brief spell to catch his breath, in addition to a habit of missing throws that replacement-level NFL quarterbacks should complete, the Colts risked losing the locker room if they did not switch to the steady hand of Flacco.
Flacco has appeared in four games with two starts for the Colts this season, and has thrown for 716 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception.
Last season, the 39-year-old had a career renaissance with the Browns, joining the team from off the couch mid-season.
The Browns went 4-1 in his starts and made it to the playoffs as Flacco won the AP Comeback Player of the Year.