Colts' Anthony Richardson Undergoes Nasal Surgery, Expected to Return This Week

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson underwent a procedure to correct his nasal septum Sunday and will miss Monday's training camp practice session.

The Colts announced the news Monday, noting the team expects Richardson to return to practice Tuesday. Gardner Minshew will likely receive most of the first-team snaps with Richardson sidelined.

Any absence for a rookie quarterback is noteworthy, but it doesn't appear the Colts are too concerned with Richardson's status. The first-round pick has been splitting reps with Minshew in first-team settings early in camp, and it's possible even one or two days of absence will open the door for the veteran to emerge as the favorite to win the starting job.

Colts owner Jim Irsay has been a strong public advocate of Richardson getting on the field early in his NFL career.

"As you guys know, Peyton (Manning's rookie) year we were 3-13, the first year," Irsay said on The Pat McAfee Show earlier this month. "That's a guy who played a lot of college games and was really prepared as much as he could be for the league. So, for Anthony Richardson, it's going to be tough. We know that. But he has to play to get better. I mean, there's no question. Gardner (Minshew) could come out and play better early on, him just being a veteran, but we have to get Anthony on the field. And that's (head coach) Shane (Steichen's) call when he decides to do it."

Richardson was a starter for just one season at Florida and was considered the biggest project of the three first-round quarterbacks from this year's class. He threw for 2,549 yards and 17 touchdowns against nine interceptions while rushing for 654 yards and nine scores, solid numbers that were racked up against largely inferior competition. Richardson's struggles, particularly with his accuracy, tended to rear their head against elite competition.

There has been nothing but strong reviews for Richardson's work ethic thus far as he tries to catch up to the speed of the NFL game, but it's clearly going to be a process. A couple of days of training camp are not much in the grand scheme, and we have enough game tape on Minshew at this point to know he's little more than a stopgap option.

That said, if we're working on a pendulum, momentum is likely on Minshew's side at this point.