Insider: How the Colts are addressing rookie QB Anthony Richardson biggest weakness

WESTFIELD — The late coach Greg Knapp had a simple reminder for his coaches, three key pieces of quarterback play that Colts offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter has always remembered to emphasize.

Decision-making, timing, accuracy. Above all.

Cooter’s never lost sight of the fact that one of those tenets often seems to fall to the backburner in the conversations surrounding quarterback play in the NFL.

“We all talk about decision-making, we all talk about accuracy,” Cooter said. “But I think what you said is a great point: Timing is so important.”

And timing is the hardest of the three tenets to develop outside the lines of an NFL field.

Film, the playbook and the meeting room develop decision-making. A quarterbacks coach can work on the fundamentals of accuracy on a practice field.

Colts camp observations: Rough day for Anthony Richardson in return

Timing has to be picked up on the field, against opponents, and changes the moment a quarterback is drafted into the NFL. Five practices into his first NFL training camp, rookie Indianapolis quarterback Anthony Richardson has struggled with his timing in certain spots — holding onto the ball too long on some plays, firing off-balance and early when there’s room to set his feet on others.

The Colts knew plays like those were coming when they drafted Richardson.

They come for almost any rookie quarterback.

“When you come from college football to the NFL, you hear guys talk about, sometimes, ‘Gosh, the game is a little faster.’ ... That all has to do with timing,” Cooter said. “Timing is a real big part of how you become an NFL quarterback and get a feel for how the game works.”

Wide receivers get into and out of their breaks faster. Defensive backs close harder on the ball. Throwing windows slam shut, particularly in the red zone.

The pocket also collapses much quicker than it did in college. Even in the talent-rich SEC, Richardson’s incredible athleticism often overwhelmed pass rushers trying to chase him down, and the good news for the Colts is that his pocket presence has carried over to the NFL so far.

Buying time hasn’t been a problem, and unlike a lot of young quarterbacks with incredible running ability, Richardson often uses his feet to get a throw out of his hands, rather than pulling the ball down at the first sign of trouble and trusting his legs to make something happen.

“He’s had some really good plays so far in camp from within the pocket,” Cooter said. “Moving when needed. Not moving too far, where you really get out of control, but just sort of having that natural slide in the pocket to find that soft spot and deliver the ball.”

Timing the delivery has been harder for Richardson.

A development the Colts expected.

Richardson is not only a rookie, but he only spent one season as a starter, meaning he entered the NFL with fewer plays logged into his mental database than most rookie quarterbacks, one of the reasons every Indianapolis decision-maker keeps suggesting that the No. 4 pick would learn best by playing as early as possible, rather than sitting and developing behind Gardner Minshew.

Every time the rookie’s timing is a little off, it’s an opportunity to fix the clock in his head a little bit.

“Nothing is ever going to go perfect,” Indianapolis head coach Shane Steichen said. “This is a tough league, and you’re going to go through growing pains. That’s part of the process, and we’ll get through those and go from there.”

The experience helps.

From Richardson’s perspective, the preparation he’s done as a decision-maker will also pay dividends. Five practices into his first NFL training camp, Richardson’s decision-making seems solid — his only 11-on-11 interception came from a failed attempt to pull a throw back that sent the ball off a defensive lineman’s helmet — and he’s realized that the details of each play help a quarterback filter out the noise of the pass rush and hit the receiver at the right time.

“The details make up for all the timing,” Richardson said. “Guys needing eight steps, instead of 10 steps, on a route, and (the quarterback’s) footwork being in place, being in line. The details really matter, and that will mix with the timing.”

Richardson’s timing will also likely improve once the Colts are finished installing the entire offense.

Indianapolis has installed more than half the offense already, according to Cooter, and once that task is complete, the team’s offensive staff will begin fine-tuning the plays they’ve put in place. When that happens, Richardson will have more opportunities to show he’s learned from mistakes, as the Colts run the same plays over and over.

“You’re going to make mistakes at quarterback. There’s a lot going on, there’s a lot of things to do. It’s not a position you usually play perfectly, so you get to the end of a practice, you have a few plays that you want to get back,” Cooter said. “The good thing about Anthony, he’s been really, really good about genuinely being open-minded about receiving coaching, receiving feedback, and it’s been impressive to watch him turn that into improvement the next day or the next week on the practice field.”

Knapp’s three tenets impact each other.

Knowing the right decision to make leads to the correct timing, and timing the play correctly often leads to an accurate throw. A handful of Richardson’s misses so far have been plays where it looked like his timing was a bit off, leading to an errant throw. As he continues to build experience in the NFL, it will be interesting to see if his accuracy improves with his timing.

“You can have ups and downs, but it’s just a matter of keeping your head cool, calm and collected,” Richardson said. “And just making plays.”

The faster Richardson gets up to NFL speed, the more plays he’ll make.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts: How QB Anthony Richardson's biggest weakness is being addressed