After seeing Anthony Richardson suffer a third injury this season, the Colts are proceeding with caution. They placed their prized prospect on IR on Wednesday morning.
The No. 4 overall pick suffered what is believed to be an AC joint sprain against the Titans in Week 5. This transaction will sideline Richardson until Week 10, when the Colts head to Germany for a Patriots matchup. The Colts’ bye comes in Week 11, opening the door to the prospect of the team holding its starter out for a bit longer than the minimum waiting period. Judging by the latest prognosis, it sounds like the Colts will be without their starter until at least late November.
Richardson is now expected to miss between four and eight weeks, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter notes. Surgery is in play. Richardson is believed to be seeking at least three opinions on how to proceed with this injury. A consensus could produce a surgery route, which would put the talented dual threat’s season in jeopardy.
Although Richardson has flashed considerable promise, the Florida product has run into injury problems to start his career. He battled knee trouble in his NFL debut and left the Colts’ Week 2 game due to a concussion, missing Week 3. While Richardson made it through Indy’s Week 4 game unscathed, the shoulder trouble he sustained will cut into his developmental arc.
Gardner Minshew, who signed a one-year deal worth $3.5MM this offseason, will take over. This marks a second straight year Minshew will need to fill in for a quarterback who sustained a shoulder injury. Jalen Hurts‘ SC joint issue led to his breakthrough season stalling down the stretch; the Eagles standout did not require an IR stint. The Colts have Sam Ehlinger in place as their backup again, and the team signed Kellen Mond to its practice squad after a Tuesday workout.
Richardson beat out Minshew for the Colts’ starting job, despite coming to Indiana as a relatively inexperienced prospect. Minshew piloted the Colts to a Week 3 upset win over the Ravens and kept the car on the road to help the team topple the Titans on Sunday. The fifth-year veteran boasts a far better completion percentage (68.7%) compared to Richardson (59.5) and carries a similar yards-per-attempt number (6.7 to Richardson’s 6.9). The 6-foot-4 talent had already amassed 136 rushing yards, however, offering a new dimension to a Colts team that had relied on immobile veterans for years following Andrew Luck‘s surprise late-summer retirement.
Given Richardson’s raw profile, it was expected he would have early-career accuracy issues. This hiatus, however, deals a blow to a Colts franchise eyeing this season as a crucial growth window for the rookie. But they look to be in steady hands with Minshew, who has been in Shane Steichen‘s system for three seasons now. The Jaguars trading Minshew to the Eagles before the 2021 season united him with Steichen initially, and while the Trevor Lawrence pick and the subsequent trade ended Minshew’s run as a regular starter, this promises to be another opportunity to fill such a role.
The Washington State alum has made 25 career starts. He is 9-16 as a first-stringer, though most of those chances came with overmatched Jaguars teams. Minshew is a career 63.3% passer who boasts an impressive 46-to-15 TD-to-INT ratio. The Indy backup’s one-year deal came with playing-time incentives, which could boost the value to $5.5MM. Richardson’s course of action will likely impact Minshew’s earnings. Minshew would receive a $500K boost for hitting the 30%, 40%, 50% and 60% snap shares on offense, Fox Sports’ Greg Auman tweets.
After four seasons of stopgaps post-Luck, the Colts are suddenly back in familiar territory. But the Steichen-Minshew history does offer some stability to a team that spent 2022 adrift, leading to a 4-12-1 season and the Richardson investment. Indy is 3-2 now and looks to have a legitimate chance at beginning at turnaround this season.