The last 14 days have been a fitting example of how much narratives – and reality – can shift every week in the NFL.
Two weeks ago, Richardson was on the bench with no set timetable for his return. A week ago, he got his job back. On Wednesday, Richardson led the Colts through their first practice of Week 12 (a walkthrough) coming off the best game of his career.
Richardson completed 20 of 30 passes for a career high 272 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown in the Colts' 28-27 win over the New York Jets in Week 11. The success Richardson had on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, though, has not altered how he's approaching his work ahead of this weekend's game against the 9-1 Detroit Lions at Lucas Oil Stadium.
"I don't try to focus on the good things because obviously if it's going good, something's going right," Richardson said. "I try to push that to the side a little bit, just worry about the things that aren't going great."
Richardson identified one glaring area from Week 11 he wants to be better in this weekend: "Not fumbling," Richardson said. Richardson was strip-sacked to open the third quarter, leading to the Jets taking a 14-13 lead, then a mis-handled mesh point on a zone read – on which Richardson said he looked the wrong way – led to a loss of nine yards to open a possession midway through the third quarter.
"I had two fumbles throughout the game," Richardson said, "so definitely trying to keep the ball in our hands and pushing the ball downfield, moving the ball, just being consistent with that and having a clean game with no turnovers."
In deciding to go back to Richardson as his QB1 last week, Steichen said he saw Richardson make necessary strides in his dedication to honing his process and focusing on the small details that add up to have a major impact as an NFL starting quarterback. So far this week, Steichen hasn't seen Richardson's dedication to those critical things fall off – especially after that helped push Richardson to a career day against the Jets.
"We talked about all the details going into it, and those details were on point, and it showed," Steichen said. "He did a hell of a job doing the little things right all week, same thing this week."
The stakes this weekend will get even higher against a Lions team that, at its core, is built around physicality. The Colts, though, will roll into Week 12 ready for a physical matchup with their 6-foot-4, 244 pound quarterback – who pummeled a pair of Jets defensive backs on his touchdown runs last year – leading that charge.
"We know we're getting ready to play a physical team, so they're going to bring it to us," Richardson said. "We got to bring it to them."
Wednesday's practice report
The Colts on Wednesday opened defensive end Tyquan Lewis' 21-day practice window, meaning he can return to practice immediately and be activated from injured reserve at any point in the next three weeks.
For the second straight week, though, the Colts conducted a walkthrough on Wednesday instead of a full practice, with Steichen looking to manage his team's workload with two games left until their Week 14 bye.
