Colts held Anthony Richardson out against Bears because of joint practice snaps
INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts ultimately decided to hold starting quarterback Anthony Richardson out of Saturday night’s 24-17 preseason win over the Chicago Bears because the coaching staff believed the rookie quarterback had gotten enough work in two joint practices earlier this week.
Richardson handled more than 70 first-team snaps against the Bears on Wednesday and Thursday.
Because of those snaps, the Bears and Colts decided to hold most of their starters out of the preseason game, and Richardson’s status as a rookie didn’t alter Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen’s decision.
Doyel: Colts' 'plan' for QB Anthony Richardson includes letting him miss preseason game
“Those (joint practice) deals, you do get a ton of reps, and a lot of starters didn’t play on both sides of the ball for us,” Steichen said. “It was just one of those things that I felt I wanted to hold him out, and then we’ll go from there next week.”
NFL teams have increasingly taken that approach to training camp in the past couple of years, prioritizing snaps taken in joint practices over plays in preseason games, leading to starters on both sides sitting out the final game.
By holding starters out of the preseason games, NFL teams minimize the risk of injury in live action, although typically that axiom applies to veterans.
Richardson's status as a rookie made the Colts' decision a little more surprising. Ever since Indianapolis used the No. 4 pick on Richardson, the team has repeated its belief that the young quarterback needs to play to develop, a belief that played a part in Steichen naming the rookie the team's starting quarterback with two weeks of joint practices remaining in training camp.
Two other rookie quarterbacks, Carolina's Bryce Young and Houston's C.J. Stroud, played briefly in preseason games after going through joint practices with the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins, respectively.
Ultimately, Steichen chose to minimize the risk to his young quarterback.
“That’s part of it, it’s a controlled environment, but you get tons of reps,” Steichen said. “It’s a game atmosphere. The energy level’s there."
Indianapolis has one more joint practice session left before the end of training camp.
The Colts travel to Philadelphia this week, practice against the Eagles on Tuesday and then play the preseason finale against the Eagles at 8 p.m. Thursday night.
Steichen hasn’t decided if Richardson will play in that game yet.
“I haven’t made that decision yet,” Steichen said. “We’ve got a joint practice against Philly, and then we’ll go from there.”
The difference in schedule — one joint practice instead of two — might lead to Richardson playing in the preseason finale.
“Is it leaning towards those guys possibly playing in Philly? Absolutely,” Steichen said. “But I haven’t made that decision.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts held Anthony Richardson out against Bears after joint practices
