When a team usually gives a young quarterback a break, it’s the first step in a divorce. For the Colts, the decision to bench second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson feels like a move aimed at giving the Colts a chance to make the playoffs.
Indy is 4-4. The rest of the season can break one way or the other. Veteran Joe Flacco, who is 1-1 as a starter and who won the Steelers game after coming off the bench following an injury to Richardson, helps them win now.
The cost, of course, is the delayed development of Richardson. He came into the league desperately needing reps, and he missed 13 games as a rookie due to injury. He still needs those reps, now more than ever.
But the Colts need to win. Folks like coach Shane Steichen and G.M. Chris Ballard might not be around for the payoff, if they miss the playoffs due to the losses that happen while the game slows down for Richardson.
Don’t forget the role of the locker room in situations like this. Veteran players aren’t interested in giving their all as part of a glorified apprenticeship — especially when the apprentice is willing to tap out during a game because he was tired.
Everybody is tired, especially the folks blocking for the quarterback.
So between wanting to win and not being fans of Richardson taking himself out of Sunday’s game, it becomes easy for his teammates to get behind Flacco.
Will it hurt Richardson’s development? Yes. But it also will preserve his chance to develop in Indy, with both Steichen and Ballard still employed by the team. If they go, the new regime might make sure Richardson never gets a chance to figure out how to play NFL football as a member of the Colts.
Still, here’s hoping he figures it out. As Peter King used to say on PFT Live, Bill Walsh said if he sees a guy do something once, he can coach him to do it all the time. Richardson can do spectacular things once.
The only problem is that, all too often, it’s literally once per game. Couple that with checking out of a game once, Richardson is being asked to take a seat.
It’s now up to him to ensure that this happens only once.
