Colts' Anthony Richardson Sits for Preseason Game vs. Bears After Being Named QB1

The Indianapolis Colts are sitting rookie signal-caller Anthony Richardson for Saturday's preseason game against the Chicago Bears at Lucas Oil Stadium after naming him the starting quarterback for the 2023 season earlier this week.

Veteran Gardner Minshew got the start for Indianapolis.

The Colts are resting many of their starters "following two physical joint practices against the Bears" this week, according to Nate Atkins of the Indianapolis Star.

Richardson started Indianapolis' preseason opener against the Buffalo Bills on Aug. 12. He completed 7 of 12 passes for 67 yards and one interception and rushed for seven yards on two carries in one quarter of action.

The Colts selected Richardson with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Florida. He told reporters this week that he was "shocked" to be named the starter over Minshew and Sam Ehlinger.

Colts head coach Shane Steichen said of the decision to name Richardson QB1:

"Anthony's just been progressing. The growth he's shown, then, obviously, going into Buffalo, playing against a lot of their starters, he showed great signs of improvement. I like the things he did, and it's an opportunity now for him to get a lot more with the [starters] moving forward, and we go from there."

The Colts are hoping they struck gold with Richardson, who is expected to be their quarterback of the future, after years of inefficiency at the position following Andrew Luck's abrupt retirement ahead of the 2019 season.

Richardson not suiting up for Saturday's preseason game against the Bears isn't a cause for concern, though teams typically like to give rookies more reps during the preseason to get acclimated to the NFL.

Additionally, Richardson only started 13 games during his career at Florida, so he likely would have benefitted from some extra playing time.

We could still see Richardson again this summer. The Colts have one final preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 24 before opening the regular season against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 10.