Steichen: Anthony Richardson 'Has Continued to Improve and Grow'

Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen likes what he has seen from Anthony Richardson.

Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen has worked with plenty of great quarterbacks.

Philip Rivers, Justin Herbert, and Jalen Hurts have all worked with Steichen at some point in their careers.

But now Steichen faces a completely different challenge with rookie Anthony Richardson. The Colts No.4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft is beginning his professional football journey. When a quarterback is drafted that high, he is expected to be the savior of the franchise.

Steichen and the Colts have tried to tamper expectations for their rookie quarterback. It is no secret the Colts want to get Richardson on the field as quickly as possible. But Steichen and the rest of the Colts' offensive staff want to ensure he is ready to handle being the starting quarterback before they throw him into the fire.

Richardson worked with the starting offense for the first time on Friday. He showed poise running the show and made some nice throws against the Colts' starting defense. Steichen has been very pleased with what he has seen from his rookie quarterback.

© Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

"I thought he did a really nice job," Steichen admitted. "The thing that we were looking for, obviously he was stacking the days in spring and then you get that time off in the summer time, we didn't want him to take a step back. And I don't think he has done that at all. I think he has continued to improve and grow and we got to keep doing that."

Richardson made the play of camp so far in the 7-on-7 period. After standing in the pocket, Richardson rolled out to his left to avoid simulated pressure. Richardson squared up and unleashed a bomb down the field right into the hands of Alec Pierce for a 55-yard touchdown. The crowd inside the practice facility at Grand Park Sports Complex erupted as Richardson put his arms in the air, signaling the score.

"When you've got a guy like Anthony that can get out of the pocket and make those plays, big plays come off scramble plays," Steichen explained. "That's something we talk about in the meeting rooms, we work in practices and walk-thrus, and then when it comes up like it came up today to create that big, explosive play to Alec (Pierce) was good to see."

Richardson's mobility is something the Colts have not had at the quarterback position in some time. His pocket presence and ability to sense pressure were some of his best attributes at the University of Florida. The Colts will certainly look to get him outside of the pocket as well to allow him to make plays.

Steichen wants Richardson to experience simulated pressure as much as possible during practice. Getting used to pressure in practice will make it easier for Richardson to adjust to pressure in a game. Much of that will include the young quarterback being comfortable scrambling while still delivering the ball downfield.

"The biggest thing is if nothing's open, we don't want to just stand there." Steichen remarked. "So that's why we want to work the scramble. It's not just like 'Oh, nothing's open.' Because you see sometimes, I've been around it where it's like, 'Boom, nothing's open' and you just kind of jog up to the line. So they matched it up pretty good and it's like 'Boom, let's scramble and create those plays' because that's how it's going to be like during the game."

Not everything was perfect for Richardson on Friday. Richardson handed the ball off to Zack Moss on a read-option play instead of keeping it himself. The play resulted in Moss getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage while Richardson would have had plenty of room to run if he had kept the football. Richardson was visibly frustrated with himself for making the wrong read.

"Yeah we talked about that," Steichen said with a smile. "You saw his body language, I'm sure. Those are going to happen. When you have certain plays where the quarterback's got to make a decision, is he going to be right on every single play? No. If you're doing some of those things offensively, you've got to make a decision. You've got to live with some of those."

© Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Richardson also had an overthrow of Kylen Granson to the left side of the field. The pocket started to collapse on him, and the rookie quarterback looked a little sped up on the play. The result was a slight overthrow and incompletion.

"Those full speed reps, the little summits in the pocket. Like one today, we had a pressure off the edge and (Richardson) sped up his footwork," Steichen remembered. "We had it picked up, and he just barely missed the throw, but it's little things like that like 'Hey, we're picked up, we're good on that.' We'll just (need) a little easier throw on that and we'll be good."

Every rookie has ups and downs throughout training camp, including the top picks in the NFL draft. The key is for these rookies to bounce back from their mistakes and continue to stack good days on top of one another. 

Great quarterbacks like Rivers, Herbert, and Hurts build on their mistakes and make sure they correct them so they do not become bad habits. Steichen sees that in Richardson and is excited to see how he will continue to grow.

"They're all different personalities, but it's been really good to see," Steichen said. "They're all different players too. It's been exciting. Obviously, we had the spring, still learning (Richardson), it's still early, but really happy where he's at. Just the energy he brings and the work ethic he's had so far has been great."

It sounds like Steichen shares the same excitement Colts fans do about their rookie quarterback.

Want more Colts content? Check out the latest episode of the Horseshoe Huddle Podcast!

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