Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen is being blamed for the latest injury to Anthony Richardson. He made a play call during the first quarter that ultimately ended up with his starting quarterback in the locker room.
The sequence of events is truly dumbfounding.
Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, has played in just eight of a possible 21 games during his professional career thus far. His appearance in four of those eight games came to an abrupt end with an injury that caused him to exit early. Sunday was one of them.
Here is how it all went down:
Indianapolis had 1st-and-10 at the Pittsburgh 46-yard-line. Richardson took the snap and ran outside of the left tackle for a gain of 16 yards. He fumbled, but it was recovered by the Colts. More notably, the awkward tackle left the 6-foot-4, 244-pound quarterback with visible discomfort.
— – (@Spicoli_____) September 29, 2024
Richardson initially left the game with a hip injury so Joe Flacco took over for two plays. He threw a 10-yard pass to Jonathan Taylor. Taylor ran for 13 yards.
Richardson returned to the game on 1st-and-goal at the six. Steichen decided to call yet another quarterback run play.
The second-year head coach immediately ran the player who just exited the game with an injury that occurred when he last ran the ball. Why? That is the question on everybody’s mind.
As if that decision was not confusing enough already, Richardson slid down awkwardly after doing what his coach asked of him and immediately went to the locker room.
— – (@Spicoli_____) September 29, 2024
He was then ruled out with a hip injury.
Shane Steichen saw Anthony Richardson injure his hip and immediately called a play that put his quarterback in a compromising position. Believe it or not, Richardson got hurt. Who coulda thunk???
There was zero reason to call a quarterback run. Steichen did it anyway.