For the first time on Friday, we heard from Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard on why the team decided to bench quarterback Anthony Richardson after the team’s Week 8 matchup with Houston.
“He was drowning,” Ballard said via the Indy Star.
At the time of the benching, the messaging from head coach Shane Steichen–something that has to improve in 2025–was that Joe Flacco gave the Colts the best chance to win.
Steichen would add that the decision didn’t have anything to do with Richardson tapping out against the Texans and when pressed about how long Richardson would be the backup, Steichen didn’t have any specifics.
The more straight-forward assessment, however, as Ballard put it, was that Richardson was in over his head.
“He plays with really good poise most of the time, but as we went along and into the Houston game, I didn’t feel the same poise that I was feeling,” Ballard said. ‘That meant, one, mentally, it was really going fast for him and he needed to take a bit of a step back.”
Over the following two weeks, as Steichen continued to reiterate that Flacco gave the team the best chance to win, that messaging fell flat after the offense mustered just six points against Minnesota and then trailed 13-30 against the Bills a week later with one minute left in the game.
It was at this point that the Colts would pivot back to Richardson–a move that Ballard admitted he wished the team could have held off longer on making.
Once Richardson was introduced back into the starting lineup following those two games, Steichen shed a bit more light on the situation, adding that the team wanted Richardson to take a step back and really focus in one the day-to-day details that come with being a starting NFL quarterback.
Behind the scenes before this move back to the starting lineup was made official, there were meetings between Steichen, other leaders on this Colts team, and Richardson, laying out what the organization needed from the young quarterback moving forward.
“It was probably one of the better ones I’ve been a part of,” Ballard said of the meeting, which lasted around an hour and a half. “There were some real, honest conversations about where we were and what we needed to do and about Anthony. Players let it be known: ‘Here are the expectations of what we expect from you and what we need to get done.’”
Upon his return against the New York Jets, we did see an improved version of Richardson. Against the Jets in Week 11 and the Patriots in Week 13, he put the offense on his back in the fourth quarters of those games, leading two game-winning drives.
“I thought we saw some really cool things. We did. Really exceptional things,” Ballard said.
Unfortunately, back spasms would keep Richardson out of the final two games of the season. Overall, while some strides were made, he was still dealing with inconsistencies, completing a league-low 47% of his passes on the season.
The need for more consistency from Richardson along with him proving that he can stay healthy for a full 17 game season is ultimately going to lead to the Colts adding competition to the quarterback room this offseason. But in what capacity–another veteran signing or through the draft–remains to be seen.