Colts QB Anthony Richardson not looking to change playing style

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is not looking to make major changes to his playing style after his rookie season was prematurely ended by injuries.

Richardson's season was officially ended after he underwent shoulder surgery. The former Florida QB appeared in only four games for the Colts and played only 12 quarters of football due to a series of injuries. Veteran Gardner Minshew took over the starting duties after Richardson went down and nearly led the Colts to the AFC South title.

Richardson said on Thursday that he simply needs to play smarter rather than change his entire overall playing style. That means, in his words, preventing the injuries that he can control and doing things like not slowing down at the end zone, which resulted in a concussion.

"It's just a matter of me just being out there and just learning when to get down, when not to get down," Richardson explained. "Some of the injuries were unfortunate. My ankle got stepped on, hitting my knee on the turf really hard. Just stuff like that. Stuff that I can't control."

The other thing that will help Richardson is that the Colts making more an effort to protect him with talent around him. Especially on the offensive line. It was clear very early on that was going to be a problem for the Colts and it resulted in him taking a beating from the very beginning of the season. 

The Colts' inability to build a steady offensive line around Andrew Luck for so many seasons was one of the things that led to his early retirement. The Colts can not let another franchise quarterback get beaten down like that.

Indianapolis selected Richardson with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft in the hopes he could fill the void left by Luck's retirement years ago. After Luck left the NFL the Colts had a revolving door of one-year stop gaps that included the likes of Jacoby Brissett, Phillip Rivers, Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan. None of them were quality short-term or long-term solutions.

Richardson was seen as more of a project entering the NFL due to his lack of experience as a starter in college. But he was also seen as having a massive upside due to his size, speed, strength and arm. The Colts only saw flashes of it during his rookie season due to his injuries. They need him to play smarter and be smarter about protecting him if they are ever going to see him reach that potential.