Anthony Richardson Got Savagely Mocked by the Bengals at Joint Practice: 'Is That All He Does is Run?'

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As it is every year as we head into late August, much of the attention of the football world is focused on the this year's crop of rookie quarterbacks. How they're looking. If they'll start. When they'll start. Should they start. Which ones you should draft in Fantasy, all that. It's as much a part of late summer as stores selling Halloween candy and putting out the cases of pumpkin beers. 

But not to be lost in the hype of one of the most anticipated QB rookie classes in memory is last year's highly anticipated QB rookie classes. Bryce Young had his struggles on the worst team in football (his 62 sacks for 477 yards led the league) but made 16 starts. CJ Stroud has obviously established himself, winning Rookie of the Year and making the Pro Bowl. But the jury is very much out on No. 4 pick Anthony Richardson, who was lost for the season after just four starts. Making 2024, for all intents and purposes, his rookie season's reboot. Like when Suicide Squad flopped so the DC Cinematic Universe followed it up with The Suicide Squad. 

And based on the brutal early reviews from critics on the Bengals defense at joint practices, this sequel is not going to be Certified Fresh [tm]:

Source - Anthony Richardson had nowhere to go with the football. All his Indianapolis Colts’ receivers were covered, so the dual-threat quarterback tucked the ball and ran. In a real game, he wouldn’t have made it far, and the Cincinnati Bengals defense quickly reminded him of that during Tuesday’s joint practice. 

“Throw the ball, bro!” Bengals defensive tackle B.J. Hill yelled at Richardson, knowing Richardson had no one to throw to.

Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt quickly joined in on the trash talk.

“Is that all he does is run?” Taylor-Britt said, directing his barb toward a few Colts fans in the crowd.

On Richardson’s next snap in 11-on-11, he did throw the ball — to the wrong team. … Cincinnati linebacker Logan Wilson came down with the interception, and the Bengals celebrated by taunting Richardson yet again.

None of it looked good.

“He’s just throwing to spots,” Bengals safety Geno Stone yelled at one point. “He doesn’t see his receivers.”

Richardson ended the day 10-of-20 passing with one pick, one touchdown and a lot of frustration.

Holy Schneikies. I get that joint practices aren't dinner parties. You're not expected to be on your best behavior. Fist fights break out at these things more often than in the bleachers at Yankee Stadium for good reason. These guys don't know each other. Don't work together. And have no incentive to play nice with others. 

But this was brutal. Richardson was on the pointy end of the most savage shit-talking I've ever heard reported from one these workouts. If a quarterback ever took this level of verbal abuse at a practice, I certainly missed it. The Bengals sensed weakness and then turned this into an NBA All Star Dunk Contest. And while "Throw the ball, bro!" and "Is that all he does is run?" get a lot of points from the judges, I'm giving the title to Geno Stone. Because Richardson is 6-foot-4. And when he's throwing to spots because "He doesn't see his receivers," that's a gravely serious issue. 

By no means am I suggesting Richardson is a disaster that can't be fixed. I go back to how I opened this, which is the jury is very much out on him after playing less than 1/4 of a season. But when he's getting dragged this often and this openly in a joint workout and doesn't respond positively, that's a bad omen indeed. After practice Shane Steichen said the plan is to play his starters well into the 2nd quarter in Cincinnati tomorrow night. And while 90% of the time you can say the final preseason game doesn't count, this one will mean a lot. How Richardson bounces back from getting teabagged this badly will matter. A fourth overall draft pick's whole future might be riding on whether he can make these guys pay for their disrespect or not. 

So thanks are in order to the Bengals for making a third preseason game interesting for once. The football world ought to be watching.