Colts quarterbacks coach Cam Turner was "shocked" the first time he saw Anthony Richardson throw a football this spring.
"There was no hesitation," Turner said in an interview on Tuesday's episode of the Official Colts Podcast. "He was out there cutting it loose. Some guys will come back and ease into it, and you're kind of having to hold Anthony back — like, you don't have any throws left today. That's it. You're not making any more. There was no hesitation and you could tell he trusted his shoulder and his strength and everything he's done up to this point."
While seeing Richardson let it rip on the field was certainly a welcome development, Turner and the Colts knew that's who the 2023 No. 4 overall pick would be once he worked his way back from the shoulder injury that ended his rookie season. Most of the strides Richardson has made since the Colts' offseason program began in mid-April, Turner said, have come in how he's absorbed information in meetings.
"He's the same athletic Anthony that we know," Turner said. "But in the meeting room, it's — he's taking that step as far as the knowledge and the maturity of the question he's asking now are the next level questions. As opposed to the questions he was asking a year ago were more basic. He's definitely grown in our scheme and then identifying defenses as well."
As Richardson begins delving deeper into finding answers within Shane Steichen's offense, Turner said the questions he's asking this spring will help him process information and make quicker decisions this fall.
"(It's) the next layer as far as 'if this then that' once he understands the base rule (of a play)," Turner said. "So he understands the base rule, then it's okay, the next step is if you do get this, you can fast-forward your eyes or you can kind of skip that read – the little tricks that kind of speed up the decision-making process."
Turner, in his sit-down on the Official Colts Podcast, also gave an in-depth explanation for how impressive Richardson's feel for playing quarterback is, as well as one way Steichen has worked to fit his office to Richardson's skillset.
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