INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Backup quarterback Anthony Richardson took snaps with the Indianapolis Colts starters while Daniel Jones stuck to the positional group stuff Wednesday.
It may not be Indy's ideal combination or even a likely one heading into the Sept. 13 season opener.
But just seeing the injury-prone Richardson and Jones working on the same practice field created some semblance of stability at a position that’s been anything but for the Colts lately.
A lot has changed from 12 months ago when the two first-round draft picks were competing for Indy's starting job.
Jones returns this year as the clear-cut starter while Richardson, once considered the potential franchise quarterback, finds himself battling Riley Leonard for the No. 2 job — and to stay with the team that drafted him No. 4 overall in 2023.
“Him (Richardson) and Riley will compete,” Colts coach Steve Steichen said after workouts. "We’ll flip the reps every other day. I mean, they get the same reps with the ones and the twos every day through OTAs. it’s 50/50. They're competing just like everyone’s competing. We’ve got certain guys competing at certain spots and that’s one of the positions they are competing at.”
Jones understands what Richardson is going through.
When the New York Giants drafted him No. 6 overall in 2019, the former Duke star was supposed to be the Giants' long-time solution at quarterback. In his fourth season, Jones took the Giants to the playoffs and was rewarded with a big contract.
Two years later, he was benched, then asked for his release, signed with the Minnesota Vikings and eventually landed in Indy last season.
Naturally, the Colts are playing it safe with their biggest offseason investment as Jones continues to recover from a broken bone in his left leg and a torn right Achilles tendon. The injuries derailed his season. He re-signed with Indy in March, agreeing to a two-year deal worth $88 million and a chance to push the total to as much as $100 million — if he continues to stay healthy and play at last season's level.
Jones started throwing before the draft, but Wednesday marked the first time reporters saw him on a field since he suffered the Achilles tendon injury Dec. 7 at Jacksonville.
“I think you’ve got to be realistic and understand the body’s got to heal,” Jones said, still hopeful of playing in Week 1 against Baltimore. “There’s a process to it. And you try to focus on kind of what the next goal is and understand what the long-term goal is, but you focus on the more immediate short-term next milestone that you’re trying to accomplish.”
Richardson, meanwhile, wasn't even supposed to be here in late May.
Richardson appeared in just four games as a rookie because of a shoulder injury, completing just 47.7% of his throws in Year 2 and losing the starting job to Jones last year. Then the injury-prone Richardson fractured an orbital bone in a freak pregame stretching incident and never took another snap.
In February, the Colts gave Richardson and his agent permission to find a trade partner. So far, though, nothing has materialized so after skipping the first round of Colts workouts, Richardson returned. The strong-armed, more slender-looking Richardson now seems content with whatever happens in Indy, which did not exercise the fifth-year extension on Richardson's rookie contract.
“I signed a contract, so I’m still on this team regardless of the trade stuff,” he said. "I’ve got an obligation to this team to come out here and play and perform and be ready to play if they need me. I don’t think it’s weird or awkward. I’m not really focused on (the trade) right now, I’m here, I’m just trying to make sure I’m staying healthy and keeping everything up there in the mind sharp.”
The bigger questions for the Colts are when will Jones be ready to play and will Richardson still be around when the season begins.
Steichen said Jones' recovery is on schedule, maybe slightly ahead of schedule.
“Next week, I might get him into some seven on seven,” Steichen said. "We’ll look into that, and see how this week goes, but he’s doing really good.”
As for Richardson, he's more cautious.
“Right now he’s here,” Steichen said. "Obviously, he hasn’t rescinded the trade, but he’s engaged, he’s in the meetings and he’s competing for a job.”
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