Anthony Richardson injury update: Colts place QB on injured reserve

The Indianapolis Colts (5-1) on Monday placed quarterback Anthony Richardson on injured reserve with a fractured orbital bone. Richardson will miss a minimum of four games.

Richardson sustained the injury during pregame band work in the locker room before Sunday’s Week 6 home game against the Arizona Cardinals (2-4). According to Stephen Holder of ESPN, the pole Richardson had affixed an elastic stretch band to snapped. The pole forcefully impacted his face, leaving him badly injured and his vision impaired. He was hospitalized from the freak accident.

With Richardson sidelined unexpectedly, rookie signal-caller Riley Leonard served as the backup to Daniel Jones in the Colts’ 31-27 victory over the Cardinals. Indianapolis took hold of the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC.

“AR, he got an eye – he got an orbital fracture, eye fracture in pregame warmup doing band work,” head coach Shane Steichen said after the game. “It was very interesting, to say the least. It was. We had to kind of rally the troops there in the locker room and get us back into focus, and I thought our guys did that the right way. And, just obviously hope AR is good.”

Injuries piling up for Anthony Richardson in short career

Injuries have been a big story for Richardson since he entered the league in 2023 as the No. 4 overall pick out of Florida. Richardson played in just 15-of-34 possible games over the last two seasons. He missed 13 games in his rookie campaign with an AC joint sprain. Richardson missed Weeks 5 and 6 this past season with an oblique injury, only to return in Week 7.

Steichen benched him in favor of Joe Flacco due to poor performance after Week 8 but went back to Richardson in Week 11. Richardson then missed the final two games with a disk issue in his lower back. 

Jones, who signed a one-year deal with the Colts this past offseason, won the quarterback competition in training camp and the preseason. Indianapolis has the top scoring offense in the league with Jones under center.