The Colts will fly to Jacksonville on Saturday knowing they'll be without running back Jonathan Taylor (ankle), defensive end Kwity Paye (quad) and cornerback Kenny Moore II (hip). They're already without several key players who are shelved on injured reserve: Defensive ends Samson Ebukam and Tyquan Lewis, defensive tackle DeForest Buckner and cornerback JuJu Brents.
Week 5, then, will be a test of the Colts' depth. Will that test include the team's quarterback?
Anthony Richardson (oblique) on Friday was listed as questionable, and the Colts will evaluate over the next 24 hours their explosive QB1's status for Sunday's game against the winless Jacksonville Jaguars. If Richardson cannot play, the Colts will turn to veteran backup Joe Flacco, who entered last week's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and capably steered the offense to a 27-24 victory.
Richardson, of course, would like to play. Beyond his own competitiveness and drive to play for his teammates, Sunday's game will be a homecoming of sorts for Richardson, a Florida native who was born in Miami and grew up in Gainesville.
And then there's the whole thing about ending the Colts' losing streak to the Jaguars away from home.
"I also heard about how we haven't won down there in however long," Richardson said. "We want to change that for sure. If I am out there, we're definitely working to change that."
Richardson said that quote Wednesday. As of Friday, "if" is still the operative word there. So the Colts, Richardson and the rest of us will play the waiting game over the next 24 or so hours to figure out who will be behind center at 1 p.m. Sunday at EverBank Stadium.
"We'll see," head coach Shane Steichen said.
Will north Florida losing streak come to an end?
"However long," as Richardson alluded to, is 10 years. That was the last time the Colts beat the Jaguars in Jacksonville – it's a losing streak that's more bizarre than relevant, at least to the players and coaches who'll determine the outcome of Sunday's game at EverBank Stadium.
Colts players are generally aware this franchise hasn't beat the Jaguars on the road in a while, though the specifics aren't all that important to them. They're not consumed by it. That's because the streak isn't all that important to this current version of the Colts.
"I don't care about a nine-game losing streak," linebacker Zaire Franklin said. "I only care about beating the Jacksonville Jaguars in Jacksonville in 2024."
One nine-game losing streak will end Sunday afternoon at EverBank Stadium. It'll either be the Colts' nine-game road losing streak to the Jaguars, or Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence's nine-game losing streak that dates back to last season. The last time Lawrence started a game the Jaguars won was Nov. 26, 2023; the Jaguars last won a game on New Year's Eve of last year, but did so with Lawrence injured and unable to play.
Lawrence, who signed a market-setting contract extension with the Jaguars this offseason, enters Week 5 owning the longest active losing streak for a starting quarterback in the NFL, per NFL Research. The tape tells a different story, though – Lawrence has had plenty of good moments, even within all those losses – and the Colts are hardly viewing him as a winless, struggling quarterback.
"Trevor is still Trevor," cornerback Kenny Moore II said. "We played him a number of times. He has the ability and capability of wrecking the game."
For the Colts, using the momentum they've created over their last two games – home victories over the Chicago Bears and Steelers – to forge a fast start in Jacksonville is key. The Colts have only had the lead once – a three-point advantage after an early Matt Gay field goal in 2023 – in Jacksonville over the last three seasons; they last led by seven points on the road against the Jaguars in the first half of a 27-20 loss to open the 2020 season.
"I wouldn't necessarily say it's a tough place to play, I think we just haven't consistently put out a good performance there," Franklin said. "But none of that really matters. New team, new year, new situation. So just gotta approach it with a fresh mindset ready to play."
