INDIANAPOLIS — The future remains uncertain — at so many levels — but the Indianapolis Colts’ present belongs to Joe Flacco.
The team has decided to bench Anthony Richardson, according to ESPN and NFL Network.
The 22-year-old and No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 draft was viewed as the franchise’s quarterback of the future. But everyone understood Richardson was a project because of his lack of experience — 13 starts in college at Florida — and growing pains were anticipated.
But Richardson’s erratic performance in his second season apparently proved too much for general manager Chris Ballard and coach Shane Steichen to further endure. Richardson has completed 44.4% of his passes and has a 57.2 passer rating in his six starts, both worst in the NFL by a wide margin.
He also is coming off the worst game of his 10-start career: 10-of-32 for 175 yards with one touchdown and one interception in Sunday’s 23-20 loss at Houston.
Monday, Steichen surprised everyone by conceding he and his staff were “evaluating everything.’’ That was in stark contrast to the Colts steadfastly supporting Richardson as their starter, even with during his slow development as a dual-threat quarterback.
“We are evaluating everything,’’ Steichen said. “Not just the quarterback (but) everything. Like, we’ve all gotta be better. I mean, we’re sitting at .500, and I think looking back at what we’ve done, there’s a whole bunch of areas we can improve on.
“I’m not just talking about the quarterback. I’m talking about everything. We’ve gotta be better moving forward.’’
They’ll move forward with Flacco.
In short order, the Colts have transitioned from the league’s youngest quarterback to one of its oldest. Flacco turned 39 in January.
This story will be updated
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.