Anthony Richardson’s second NFL season is over.
The Indianapolis Colts’ starting quarterback will not play in Sunday’s regular-season finale, coach Shane Steichen announced Friday. Richardson, the No. 4 pick in 2023 NFL Draft, was ruled out of the matchup against the Jaguars due to a back injury that will sideline him for a second straight week. Richardson played all 62 offensive snaps in the Colts’ Week 16 win over the Titans, but he hasn’t played or practiced since.
#Colts QB Anthony Richardson (back) has been ruled OUT of Sunday’s game against the #Jaguars, per Indy HC Shane Steichen.
Richardson’s second season is over.
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) January 3, 2025
“Last week was tough. I couldn’t even stand up (last) Tuesday, could barely even walk, crawling around the house,” Richardson said Wednesday. “But I’m here. I’m standing now. If I can do everything in my power to get on the field, I’mma do so. That was my mindset last week as well, but I could barely move.”
Backup Joe Flacco will start in Richardson’s place. He is 1-4 as the starter this year. The 39-year-old former Super Bowl champ is aware that Sunday could mark his final NFL game, though he recently said he hasn’t thought much about his future.
“I just try to stay in the moment,” said Flacco, who’s concluding his 17th pro campaign. “People ask me all the time like, ‘How long you wanna play?’ and I don’t have an answer for them.”
Steichen said Wednesday that the team was “hopeful” Richardson would respond well to treatment and rehab on his back, but he will now miss his fourth game due to injury this year and 17th game through his first two NFL seasons. Here’s the breakdown of Richardson’s missed games due to injury: 12 due to his shoulder, two due to his right oblique, two due to his back and one due to a concussion.
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Anthony Richardson details back injury struggles: ‘I couldn’t even stand up’
Richardson was also benched for two games this year because of a lack of preparation, according to Steichen. After returning to the lineup in Week 9, Richardson went 3-2 as the starter to improve to 6-5 overall on the season before his back injury sent him to the sideline.
Richardson said Wednesday that he’s been managing back issues since eighth grade, but last week’s back spasms were so severe that he underwent an MRI that revealed a “disc thing” in his back. The 22-year-old doesn’t think he’ll need surgery. However, when asked if this “disc thing” could be chronic, Richardson said it “might be chronic.”
“But there’s plenty of ways to prevent it (from) going on in the future,” Richardson continued. “Now that I know what it is, I can find certain ways to stay out of certain positions and just make sure I’m healthy, 100 percent.”
Richardson finished his second NFL season with eight touchdown passes against 12 interceptions, plus six rushing touchdowns against three lost fumbles. He only had two full games with a completion percentage above 50, and his 47.7 completion percentage overall ranks last in the NFL. Richardson’s 61.6 passer rating is also the third-worst by a QB with at least 250 pass attempts in a season over the last 15 years, per NFL Pro.
The only two below Richardson were 2010 second-round pick Jimmy Clausen during his rookie season in Carolina (58.4) and 2017 second-round pick DeShone Kizer during his rookie season in Cleveland (32.4).
“I feel like that’s one area in my game that I can grow a lot in – just taking the easy completions, taking the check-downs when I can and just moving the ball down the field, so the offense can stay on the field and we can put up points,” Richardson said. “I feel like that’s something I’m going to be looking forward to this offseason and making sure I’m being accurate with every pass, especially short, intermediate stuff.”
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(Photo: Luke Hales / Getty Images)
