Anthony Richardson Refuses To Beat The Mr. Glass Allegations, Is Now Sitting Out Colts Minicamp With A Shoulder Injury

NBC Sports – Head coach Shane Steichen told reporters on Thursday that Anthony Richardson will not participate in OTAs this week or minicamp next week with a right shoulder injury.

Via James Boyd of TheAthletic.com, Steichen noted that Richardson’s injury is to the same AC joint that he injured previously. While surgery is not anticipated at the moment, Steichen noted that the plan is for Richardson to return “at some point” in training camp. But there is no timeline.

With Richardson sidelined, Daniel Jones will be able to take more snaps for the rest of the offseason program and potentially in training camp. That could give him a leg up to supplant Richardson as QB1 to start the 2025 season.

The No. 4 pick of the 2023 draft, Richardson was able to start just four games due to injury in 2023. He started 11 last season between injury and a benching. But his poor performance — completing just 48 percent of his passes for 1,814 yards with eight touchdowns and 12 interceptions — led the Colts to bring in Jones for an open competition.

I understand that in 49 other states it's just basketball, but whatever deal Tyrese Halliburton made with the devil to suddenly turn himself into the most clutch late-game basketball player in the history of the NBA and lead the Indiana Pacers to the NBA Finals... boy is his city's' football team taking the brunt of that one. Our owner dies, Anthony Richardson is now entering Trey Lance territory, and the Colts is now staring down the barrel of the Daniel Jones experience. 

Yesterday it was reported that Colts' 2023 1st round draft pick Anthony Richardson will be sitting out mini-camp this year with a shoulder injury. An injury that stems all the way back to his rookie year, when he underwent surgery on the AC joint in his right shoulder. Apparently, to this day, the shoulder is still a problem.

Inflammation in his surgically repaired throwing shoulder is only the tip of the injury ice berg for Anthony Richardson. He's been forced to miss games with concussions. Early last season he missed two games with a hip injury. After returning, he famously checked himself out of a football game mid-drive due to "tired", which led to him temporarily losing the starting job to Joe Flacco. When Richardson finally won the job back (with the help of some online bullying of GM Chris Ballard) he managed to string together 5 starts before back spasms and soreness as a result of a disc issue sidelined him for the final two games of the season. Anthony Richardson has done nothing to beat the "made of glass" allegations. Which is an especially brutal problem to have when what makes you great is the fact that you're a 6-foot-4, 245-pound behemoth who runs a 4.4 forty, and can trample middle linebackers in the open field. If Anthony Richardson isn't able to take contact without suffering injury, and his right shoulder is chronically hurt (his other strength is that he can throw a football 500-yards sitting Native American style)... well I'm not entirely sure what Anthony Richardson has left to fall back on. 

If I were going to spin zone this in an effort to cling to the pipe dream of Anthony Richardson developing into a living, breathing top 10 NFL quarterback, I would start by saying that according to reports, Richardson sitting out minicamp is mostly precautionary. He's expected to be good to go by the start of training camp, which is a full 7 weeks from now. But the real delusional spin zone to be had here is, "What if Anthony Richardson injuring his shoulder is actually a good thing?"

You could say Anthony Richardson's #1 problem as a quarterback (aside from not being able to say on the field), is that he's constantly overthrowing his receivers. He arguably has the strongest arm in all of the NFL, but he sure as hell struggles to keep that thing tamed.

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Maybe all Anthony Richardson needs is to put a restricter plate on that thing in the form of a nagging AC joint. Maybe being forced to dial back his throws due to chronic shoulder pain is what takes Anthony Richardson's game to the next level. Clearly I'm grasping at straws here, but when the alternative is heading into the 2025 NFL season relying on Daniel Jones… I mean… not that an injured Anthony Richardson is necessarily any better. The point is, the Colts quarterback situation is starting to look very bleak. Maybe Riley Leonard, rookie QB out of Notre Dame, the Colts' 6th round draft pick whose number one knock is also not being a good thrower footballs (tough for a quarterback) will turn out to be Tom Brady.

In all seriousness, if Anthony Richardson is healthy, which I know is a hell of a qualifier, I really do still believe in him. He undoubtedly had some atrocious moments last year. But there were also times he looked like prime Cam Newton. He made some of the most incredible throws of the entire season. He led the Colts back from 23-0 to beat the Rams. And as far as help from receivers go, Anthony Richardson had little. The Colts were plagued by dropped balls all season long. 

Which you could say was partially due to Anthony Richardson throwing 100 mph fastballs, and not consistently putting the ball exactly where it needed to be, but an NFL quarterback should be able to rely on his guys to make plays like this.

Honestly, this highlight from the Colts' Week 15 game vs the Lions perfectly sums up the Colts struggles with Anthony Richardson under center last season. Lots of bad overthrows. But when the ball was there, his recievers couldn't make a play for him.  

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I can't help but continue to hold on hope for Anthony Richardson, but as time goes on, things just keep trending in the wrong direction. If Richardson sitting out minicamp is truly just the Colts being extra cautious, and he somehow comes into the 2025 season as a perfectly healthy version of himself, then I really think the Colts have a shot to compete in the AFC South this year. But at this point, I'm afraid a perfectly healthy version of Anthony Richardson may only exist in my dreams.