Shane Steichen says the Colts and Anthony Richardson have to be smarter in 2024

Breer had multiple questions submitted to his mailbag on what we fans should expect from Richardson and the Colts offense in 2024. And Breer had the following to say in response. 

First of all, the health piece of it is important because, even though Richardson’s built like a battleship, he simply hasn’t been able to stay on the field. He had injuries in high school. He had injuries at Florida, including hamstring and knee issues which blew up his redshirt freshman season—he had knee surgery in December 2021—and he sustained a concussion during his third year (and second football season) as a Gator. Last year, of course, another concussion preceded his season-ending shoulder injury.

- Albert Breer

He also went on to share that he had a conversation with Colts head coach Shane Steichen about a month ago where he shared that the team and Richardson need to be smarter this year than they were in 2023. 

I mean, it’s just being smart on when to get down,” Steichen said. “It’s a happy medium. There’s a time and a place where it’s fourth down and you gotta have it and the game’s on the line, where you gotta go get it. But if it’s first-and-10 and you scramble and you can make it second-and-4 and take a big hit or make it second-and-6 and get down, Hey, let’s make it second-and-6.

- Colts HC Shane Steicehn to Albert Breer

I think the expectation for all players should be to grow and get better and smarter each year they are in the NFL. But not all injuries should be blamed on a player. For example, last season, Richardson wasn't aware of his surroundings, and he slowed down on what should have been an easy walk-in touchdown run against the Houston Texans last year, and he took a hit that led to a concussion as a result. That play, I understand, says Richardson needs to be smarter and more aware of his surroundings going forward.

But his shoulder injury suffered against the Tennessee Titans was just an unfortunate situation of him taking a standard hit out of the pocket, and he landed poorly on his shoulder. Plays like that are nearly impossible to plan for and prevent and, therefore, shouldn't be blamed on the player. It'll be interesting to see Steichen and the Colts put his words into effect for his second season. Because, you want to find a healthy balance of limiting opportunities for Richardson to take hard hits, but you also don't want to take away his dynamic ability as a runner.