Colts veteran shares how Anthony Richardson responded to teammates' criticisms amid benching

It was previously revealed that Indianapolis Colts Pro Bowl center Ryan Kelly and head coach Shane Steichen had "conversations" with Anthony Richardson after Richardson took himself out of a game because he was "tired" and before Steichen benched the second-year quarterback for a pair of contests. 

Per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk, Indianapolis defensive tackle DeForest Buckner shared on Thursday that he and other veteran players also met with Richardson during the signal-caller's demotion to let him know "that the standard wasn’t being met" and "that he needs to pick it up"

"And I feel like he responded really well to that," Buckner said, per Kevin Bowen of Indianapolis sports radio station 107.5 The Fan. "He’s shown the team on a consistent basis that he’s all in for the team. He’ll do whatever it takes for the team to get these wins and to be the best player that he can be." 

Multiple stories have detailed how the benching "lit a fire under" Richardson and helped improve his overall work habits. As Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star pointed out, however, Richardson's passing performances left much to be desired across the past four contests even though the 22-year-old has produced a pair of game-winning drives since returning to the lineup. 

In total, Richardson completed just 50% of 120 pass attempts for 725 yards (an average of 181.3 yards per game) with three touchdowns and four interceptions over his last four starts. According to Pro Football Reference, he ranks last in the NFL with a 60.1 passer rating and 33rd out of 34 quarterbacks with a 35.3% passing success rate for the season.

On Thursday, the NFL's website showed that the 6-8 Colts have only a 10% chance to make the playoffs heading into Sunday's home game versus the 3-11 Tennessee Titans. Nevertheless, Buckner is happy with how Richardson has taken steps in the right direction since late October. 

"A lot of guys say they want to be great," Buckner. "And when you get criticism from your peers or coaches, some young guys tend to get defensive with little things. But he took it, he ran with it, learned from it and grew."