Two weeks ago, Shane Steichen told Anthony Richardson he was being benched – but that a pathway forward very much remained for the 2023 No. 4 overall pick.
Steichen charged Richardson with reaching a higher standard with the "little things" outside his 60-minute spotlight on Sundays, like work in the classroom and weight room as well as practice and walkthroughs. There would be no timetable for Richardson's return behind center, but the second-year signal-caller would have a chance to earn his QB1 job back if he showed improvement in those areas.
And over the last two weeks, Steichen saw Richardson strive for that higher standard. On Tuesday, Steichen told Richardson he'd be the Colts' starter again, beginning Sunday against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium, in addition to telling veteran Joe Flacco he'd return to a backup role. On Wednesday morning, Steichen told his team; a few hours later, he told the world: Richardson isn't just back, he earned his way back.
"I never thought that he would not play again," Steichen said. "So when I made the decision two weeks ago, that was why I made the decision – 'Hey, Anthony, these are the areas that we need to work on and see growth and improvement.' He's made great strides in those areas."
Those areas, Steichen said, were moreso the little things and details it takes to be an NFL starting quarterback.
"When I talk about the details, I mean it's the constant grind in the meetings, with the note taking," Steichen said. "It's the walkthroughs, laser focus all the time. Just being consistent. It's consistent in the process to being the best version of yourself."
Richardson on Wednesday echoed the consistency part of this. He said he looked inward over the last few weeks and recognized he needed to be more consistent in everything he did – on the field, off the field and even away from football.
"Just show I'm willing to be a pro, I'm willing to sacrifice anything that I need to do for the team," Richardson said. "I feel like these past two weeks, it's definitely opened my eyes and allowed me to have the opportunity to do that and just take a deeper dive and look into myself and see what I'm really made of. I'm thankful for these past two weeks and I'm low-key glad they happened."
That positive, I-can-use-this-to-be-better mindset helped Richardson not only stay engaged but legitimately use his two weeks as QB2 to his benefit. Coaches and teammates saw Richardson dedicate himself to doing what was necessary to return as the team's starting quarterback; that he didn't have a firm timetable on when that would be did not result in him losing focus. Instead, the opposite happened.
"Everyone wants the instant gratification and sometimes it takes time for young players to develop and going through the weekly process of the Monday through Saturday grind," Steichen said. "And so he's learning that. He's learning it. It's a process. Everyone's got a different journey, a different story to their development. Hopefully we're going to look back at this moment and say, 'Shoot, remember that second year, where that went and where he's at now?'"
The 22-year-old Richardson, too, acknowledged Wednesday he's not a finished product yet.
"I feel like there's still room for improvement all around, but lately I've been working on consistency," Richardson said. "That's always been a thing of mine, just trying to perfect that and get better at that, just being consistent in all aspects. This week and the past couple weeks, I've been trying to focus on sacrificing more. The guys ask me to do certain things, even if I didn't feel like doing it, man, you got to do it because it's sacrifice. And they're doing it so why not do it."
While Steichen said on Monday Flacco would start this weekend's game against the New York Jets, he explained Wednesday that as he evaluated his team into Tuesday – the Colts have lost three games in a row and are 4-6 on the season – he determined Richardson had made significant progress, allowing him to jump back in as QB1.
"You evaluate everything. Evaluated over the last 24 hours, had conversations again and where Anthony has developed over the last two weeks and his growth that he's made," Steichen said. "Like I said, is it a finished product? No, but we've got a lot of faith that he's going to be our franchise quarterback because of (his) abilities and the person that he is."
While Steichen said Richardson will be the Colts' starting quarterback for the rest of the season, and emphasized Richardson is "the future of the organization," the young quarterback is not taking his role for granted. Richardson said he always appreciated the opportunity to be an NFL starting quarterback, but the last two weeks led him to better understand the "magnitude of the position" and "the magnitude of the work you gotta put in."
And he knows moving forward he needs to keep improving, keep doing those little things and keep sacrificing for his teammates to become the quarterback and player the Colts have believed he can be all along, whether he was on the bench or not.
"(Steichen) told me I was gonna be the starter from here on out, but it's up to me to keep my job," Richardson said. "I gotta make sure I'm doing the right thing and keep showcasing to Shane that I can be the guy now, that I am the guy for this team. It's not really up to him, I felt like the past couple weeks were up to me as well. I just gotta showcase the work and keep showing them that I'm willing to be the quarterback for this franchise."
