WESTFIELD, Ind. – After players took the field for the first practice of training camp on Wednesday, Colts' coordinators and assistant coaches met with the media Thursday afternoon to provide their hopes and expectations for the next month of preparation.
A popular topic of conversation was quarterbacks as the staff managed to see the trio of Anthony Richardson, Gardner Minshew and Sam Ehlinger in action for the first time since OTAs.
Despite Wednesday's practice being Richardson's first taste of training camp, Colts' offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said that the 21-year-old handled himself well.
"He's been doing a great job of soaking up information," Cooter said. "He's been doing a great job of asking questions back and forth. I think one key trait really for any quarterback, especially a young quarterback, is being open-minded about a question or asking how things work."
Quarterbacks coach Cam Turner has seen Richardson's inquisitiveness firsthand and has been more than happy to answer any questions he may have.
"It makes me fired up," Turner said. "You can tell he's been studying all summer. You can go on vacation with five weeks off, but he's been in his [play]book working."
With a coaching career that has spanned the last 14 years, Turner has seen his fair share of quality NFL quarterbacks.
In 2017, he was the assistant quarterback coach for the Carolina Panthers where he coached former MVP Cam Newton. Then, he spent the next five seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, where he coached former first overall pick Kyler Murray.
With Richardson fitting into that similar mold of mobile quarterbacks with strong arms, Turner said that it allows for more creativity with the playbook.
"They're different, but there are some similarities," Turner said. "The fact that you can kind of open up your playbook because they can run, they can also drop back and you can get them on the edge. But as far as that goes, you got to find out what his strengths are and then be able to cater to them."
As for Minshew, his strength is his knowledge of the offense.
Having played under Steichen for two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, Minshew's previous experience with the playbook has allowed him to provide important insight to those around him.
"It's huge for those guys to be able to help each other," Turner said. "Gardner, who's been in the system, has been helping Sam, helping Anthony and helping myself when I have questions about how they did it in the past. It's been huge, just the atmosphere and the environment we have. It's competitive, yes. But it's also you know, everyone's helping each other out."
The strengths of both signal-callers have made for an exciting, yet respectful battle for the team's starting quarterback job.
"Those guys are competing out there," Cooter said. "I mean, what I see is two guys trying to play really, really good football, but they're not afraid to help each other out and ask questions and communicate with each other, which is a really good trait for our offense."
