Colts taking ‘wait-and-see’ approach for activating QB Anthony Richardson off IR before finale

According to head coach Shane Steichen, the Indianapolis Colts are taking a ‘wait-and-see’ approach with 3rd-year quarterback Anthony Richardson regarding whether he’ll be activated off of injured reserve ahead of the team’s regular season finale game on the road against the Houston Texans (per The Athletic’s James Boyd).

Specifically, given that Richardson is still experiencing vision limitations, recovering from surgery to repair his fractured orbital bone suffered earlier this season, and the Colts are still erring on the side of caution before potentially activating him off injured reserve to be available for Sunday’s game:

Given that the Week 18 starting quarterback decision seems to be between unretired 44-year-old longtime veteran quarterback Philip Rivers and rookie Riley Leonard, with little to no mention of Richardson these days, and it seems unlikely that Richardson is a viable option at this late stage of the season.

Still, Richardson has done some throwing on the field during practices—and has downplayed the vision limitations publicly previously.

The freak injury as a result of a pre-game medical brand snapping during Week 6 warmups was obviously a devastating injury for Richardson, and the latest in an early NFL career that has been littered with them. In light of starter Daniel Jones suffering a season-ending torn Achilles in Week 14, Richardson wasn’t able to step in as the replacement QB1 down the stretch and try to right the ship while gaining much needed valuable experience.

While his 3-year career has largely been limited by injuries, as well as throwing accuracy deficiencies, it’s easy to forget that both Jones and Richardson were neck-and-neck during this year’s training camp and preseason for the Colts’ starting quarterback job. In fact, Richardson was arguably the stronger on-the-field performer by a pinch this past offseason—although it was likely the things we didn’t see behind the scenes that won Jones the QB1 job outright in the coaching staff’s eyes.

It’s a shame that Colts fans weren’t able to see what Richardson could do again, and if he has improved, as his latest audition was taken away before it could even become a realistic possibility this late stretch of the season.

However, we’ll have to see if Richardson is any closer to activation as this final week of the season progresses.