INDIANAPOLIS – Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson is done for the season, the latest bit of bad news from a franchise that generates no other kind, but at least we saw this one coming.
If it feels like the Colts delayed the inevitable announcement, well, you can understand. They couldn’t exactly say anything about it Monday, not with the city already furious about the team’s ugly loss a day earlier at Jacksonville. Tuesday was reserved for defensive tackle Grover Stewart’s six-game NFL suspension.
So Wednesday it was, the Colts telling the world what we’ve believed for days – what has been coming out in dribs and drabs for a week – that Richardson will have season-ending surgery on the torn AC joint in his throwing shoulder.
First came the NFL Network “report” Sunday, that “sources” were saying season-ending surgery was being strongly considered for Richardson. Colts coach Shane Steichen had been saying that for a week – on the record, even – but whatever. Sources are cool.
Then it was Colts owner Jim Irsay telling ESPN on Tuesday that Richardson “probably” would miss the rest of the season. What Irsay left out: October will “probably” be followed by November.
Then came Wednesday, when Irsay made it official in a long tweet at 11:15 a.m. and Steichen walked into his regularly scheduled news conference four minutes later and made the inevitable announcement about Anthony Richardson.
Now we await Thursday.
Longest Colts season since … 2022
Steichen was wearing a hat, probably to cover the evidence of what this season has done to him. Poor Shane, you know? Rising star in the coaching business, destined to end up with the lead job somewhere, and this is the one he gets? We’re only six games into the schedule, and already this feels like the longest season in Colts history since last year, when Matt Ryan and Jeff Saturday happened. And that was the longest season in Colts history since 2021, when Carson Wentz and Covid happened.
And that was the longest season since 2019, when Andrew Luck happened.
It’s one thing after another with the Colts, not just this season but every season. Remember the Adam Vinatieri year? Wait, that was the same season Andrew Luck happened? The dissolution of Vinatieri came just three months after the retirement of Luck? Felt like three years in real time.
These are dog years the Colts are putting you and me through, and now they’re doing it to Steichen, and on Wednesday he was wearing a hat to hide what must be happening underneath it: all that brown hair, going gray. Someone had to ask him. So I did.
Shane, is this season aging you?
And then the most unexpected thing happened. Steichen is a different guy behind the scenes, charming as hell, but his public persona has two moods: glowering, and glowering harder. But here he is, three minutes after the Anthony Richardson announcement, which means three minutes and one second after it’s just dawned on all of us – 11 more games of Gardner Minshew – and Steichen is smiling.
“Not yet,” he said. “Shoot, we’re in Week 7. We’ve got a great opportunity blah blah blah.”
Sorry. Those last three words are mine, but he definitely said the first six. He didn’t remove the hat to prove it, though. And this being the Colts and their, shall we say, “loose” interpretation of physiological updates, it wouldn’t surprise me if what Steichen had meant was this:
“My hair has actually turned white.”
Or this: “When our medical staff clears my hair, it will be back on the field.”
Or this:
“What hair?”
You started this, Jonathan Taylor
Years from now, looking back, how are we even going to remember the 2023 Indianapolis Colts? You saw how we’re remembering previous seasons: The Carson Wentz year. Matt Ryan and Jeff Saturday. Luck and Vinny. Deflategate. Chuck Pagano’s leukemia. Peyton Manning’s neck.
So many choices this time around. The year of the selfish (Jonathan Taylor). The year of the suspended (Isaiah Rodgers for gambling, Grover Stewart for PED’s). The decline of Shaq Leonard (from first-ballot NFL Hall of Famer to second-team Colts linebacker).
Anthony Richardson’s concussion. No, Anthony Richardson’s knee. No – Anthony Richardson’s shoulder.
The Gardner Minshew year?
Doyel from Sunday: Turns out, Gardner Minshew isn’t so good
The news is so bad around here, we’re just glossing right over the shoulder injury of receiver Alec Pierce. Know how Richardson was the first player the Colts drafted in 2023? Pierce was their first selection in 2022 – yes, in the second round; point for you – and he left Sunday’s game with a hurt shoulder and he still isn’t practicing yet. Steichen said Wednesday “we’ll see how the week goes,” which is Steichen-ese for: “His career is probably over.”
Right tackle Braden Smith missed last week’s game with a hip injury, and Steichen said he’s “still progressing,” which is Steichen-ese for: “He’s not making any progress at all.”
On the bright side, referring to Grover Stewart’s suspension, Steichen said the Colts “are going to stick with him,” which means they’re not going to ceremoniously dump Stewart the way they dumped Rodgers after his offseason gambling suspension. The Colts are loyal to their players when it comes to cheating, but not gambling. Plus Stewart’s really good. Rodgers just runs fast.
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