Kevin O'Connell gives heartfelt message to Colts' Anthony Richardson

O'Connell had some words of encouragement for the Colts' young QB after Sunday's game.

Nov 3, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) warms up before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. / Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell met up with second-year Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson after Sunday night's game at U.S. Bank Stadium and offered some heartfelt words of encouragement to the recently-benched 22-year-old.

"Hey, do me a favor and remember something," O'Connell said. "You're a bad dude. And you're gonna play a long time in this league. Alright? Go to work every day, good things will happen for you. I still believe in you, I know these guys do, Shane (Steichen) does too. Man, this organization loves you. Go to work. All love, man."

Kevin O'Connell’s words of encouragement for Anthony Richardson:

pic.twitter.com/1c1EQbWurE

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 7, 2024

You can tell O'Connell's words are sincere. As a former quarterback himself, he's spoken quite a bit about the development process with QBs, saying earlier this year that "organizations fail young quarterbacks before young quarterbacks fail organizations."

Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 draft, has shown flashes of huge upside due to his unique size and athleticism at the quarterback position, but he was completing fewer than 45 percent of his passes this season when he was benched for Joe Flacco last week. The Vikings, of course, had no issues shutting down Flacco and the Colts in a 21-13 primetime victory.

O'Connell and the Vikings' organization reportedly were big fans of Richardson coming into the 2023 draft, but they had the No. 23 pick and couldn't make a move up high enough to get him. USC WR Jordan Addison ended up being Minnesota's pick, which has worked out pretty well so far.

It's a fun hypothetical to think about: What if the Vikings had somehow landed Richardson in last year's draft? There couldn't be a better situation for a raw quarterback with his physical tools than playing for O'Connell and throwing to Justin Jefferson and the rest of the Vikings' weapons.

Instead, the Vikings waited until the 2024 draft, where they selected Michigan's J.J. McCarthy, to add a QB. Sam Darnold is having a resurgent season under O'Connell, but McCarthy remains in line to take over the reins when he returns from a knee injury in 2025.

It remains to be seen what Richardson's future looks like in Indianapolis.