Colts' Anthony Richardson focusing on himself amid outside noise

Throughout the offseason, members of the NFL community such as Jordan Dajani of CBS Sports repeatedly voiced injury concerns regarding the future of second-year Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson.

Richardson previously made it known he wouldn't drastically alter his playing style coming off a shortened rookie season, and he suggested ahead of Indianapolis' Week 1 game against the Houston Texans that he'll take the field without any fear of injury.

"I’ve always had people say I can’t do certain things or I won’t be able to accomplish certain things, but that’s all part of the lifestyle I live," Richardson recently explained, as shared by James Boyd of The Athletic. "It was a little difficult for me at one point in time, just trying to live up to everybody else’s expectations. But then I realized, their expectations will never be higher than my own, so I don’t have to prove anybody else right but myself." 

After Richardson took a blow to his knee in the closing minutes of his regular-season debut last September, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence warned the fourth overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft that "the hits add up in this league, and they're a little different than in college." Richardson learned that lesson the hard way, as he suffered a concussion in Week 2 and then went down with a season-ending shoulder injury in his fourth game.

In total, Richardson attempted only 84 meaningful passes before he became a spectator. 

This past July, Colts owner Jim Irsay insisted that injuries such as the one that knocked Richardson out for the bulk of the 2023 campaign "could happen at any time" because "it's a physical game." Orthopedic specialist Dr. Tom Gormely, who serves as a private trainer and throwing coach for Richardson, told Boyd that the signal-caller doesn't play "haphazardly" and was simply unlucky last fall. 

"Anthony is a detail-oriented student of the game," Gormely added. "He wants to know exactly what he should be doing and why he should be doing it, from his rehab to what his (on-field) progressions and reads should be." 

Richardson recorded just 13 college starts before he entered the NFL and very much looked like a raw prospect during preseason action ahead of his sophomore campaign. As much as Irsay and others within the Colts believe additional playing time will help Richardson develop into an elite quarterback, he first must simply prove he can get through the Houston game able to start Indianapolis' Week 2 matchup at the Green Bay Packers.