Colts’ Anthony Richardson Has Bad News For Critics Of His Play Style

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson played in just four games during his rookie campaign last season due to a couple of different injuries.

First, he sustained a concussion in Week 2, which sidelined him the following week. Then, in Week 5, Richardson a shoulder injury that knocked him out for the season and ultimately required surgery.

Many are wondering if Richardson will end up altering his aggressive play style as a preventative measure against more injuries, but the youngster has no plans of changing his game.

“Changing my game and my play style? I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong with my play style,” Richardson said, via Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com. “People see me, I’m a big quarterback, so they always think, ‘Oh, he wants to run the ball all the time, he wants to be physical and that’s what’s gonna get him hurt.’ But that’s not the case. The times I did get hurt … The one time, the one concussion, that was me completely because I slowed down by the end zone — you’re never supposed to do that. Everything else, it just happened because we play a dangerous game, and there’s nothing I can do about that.”

You have to appreciate Richardson’s courage and bravado, but the Colts’ coaching staff and organization may very well want him to tone it down just a bit.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Richardson has to change his play style, but Indianapolis may want him to slide more, for example, in order to limit the amount of hits he takes. It also may behoove Richardson to run out of bounds more, as well.

Richardson, who played his collegiate football at the University of Florida, was selected by the Colts with the fourth overall pick of the NFL Draft last spring.

In the four games he played last season, the 22-year-old threw for 577 yards, three touchdowns and an interception while completing 59.5 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 87.3. He also rushed for 136 yards and four scores.

Indianapolis managed to go 9-8, as Gardner Minshew admirably filled in for Richardson. However, the Colts missed the playoffs, losing a winner-take-all game to the Houston Texans for the AFC South division title in the final week of the regular season.

We’ll see if Anthony Richardson can take Indianapolis a little further in 2024.