Colts say QB Anthony Richardson will improve by playing

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts have said they aren’t committing to a specific role for fourth overall draft pick Anthony Richardson in 2023. But the more you listen, the more apparent it becomes Richardson is likely to see the field sooner than later.

Asked about the likelihood of Richardson playing early in the season, perhaps from Week 1, owner Jim Irsay offered a direct answer.

“I think it’s important,” Irsay said. “You get better by playing. I mean, practice and preseason games and watching in a quarterback room, that’s great. But, man, I’ll tell you, he’d get better by playing, and it’s something that it is really important. Because, again, his development [is] so much of a key to the franchise’s future. It is the critical key.

“Everyone knows that him developing into an outstanding, great player in this league is going to determine where we go and how far we go and how long we have excellence. So, everything’s going to be based around that.”

Richardson started just 13 games at Florida, and his lack of experience had been a key point of contention for teams scouting him ahead of the draft. But the Colts, Irsay said, were all-in and convinced that he could be their solution at quarterback — a position that has been unsettled in Indy for years.

Irsay went so far as to say the Colts would have strongly considered Richardson with the No. 1 overall pick had they been in that position.

“I always felt Richardson was going to be the guy that we went with early on,” Irsay said. “I mean, early in the process, going back into February.”

The decision whether to play Richardson will fall to head coach Shane Steichen, Irsay said. The Colts signed veteran Gardner Minshew last month and have the option to play him. Minshew is familiar with Steichen’s offense, as the two worked together last season with the Philadelphia Eagles.

But Steichen also admits that Richardson has tantalizing talent and will benefit from playing.

“I think the development of players comes with more experience,” Steichen said. “I think when you play more, that’s how you develop.”

Irsay, it seems, won’t argue with that.

“I know that’s one of the primary reasons why you start [him] opening game is because it gets better by playing,” Irsay said. “That’s the biggest benefit from it. And at the same time, I have to say, the fans have to have patience. Because it’s hard. We’ll see what happens, and he can surprise a lot of people.

“But it is tough. It’s tough, but it’s the way to go.”