Colts HC: Anthony Richardson 'Solid' vs. Eagles But Has 'Some Things' to 'Clean Up'

The Anthony Richardson experience is going to be, well, an experience this season.

The Indianapolis Colts rookie showed flashes of brilliance and incompetence during his final preseason game, throwing for 78 yards on 6-of-17 passing while adding 38 yards on the ground against the Philadelphia Eagles.

There were times Richardson was captivating as he fit balls into tight windows and extended plays with his legs and others where he showed the type of accuracy issues that could drive a coach mad.

For his part, Colts coach Shane Steichen felt strongly about Richardson's performance.

"Shoot, I thought he did a solid job," Steichen told reporters after the game. "We scored three out of the first four drives, which is good. The two-minute drive wasn't what we wanted, but we'll go back, look at the tape. I thought he did some really good things and some things we've got to clean up as well."

Richardson was named the Colts starter after beating out Gardner Minshew in the preseason. The decision was aimed more toward the future than performance in 2023, with all parties acknowledging Richardson is bound to have significant growing pains as a rookie.

The Florida product was a starter for just one college season and an inconsistent one at that. He finished with 2,548 passing yards and 17 touchdowns against nine interceptions while completing just 53.8 percent of his passes and struggling against high-quality teams.

Even so, teams came away wowed by Richardson's combination of size (6'4", 245 pounds), speed (4.43-second 40-yard dash) and throwing power to send him rocketing up draft boards in April.

The Colts rolled the dice on Richardson and now seem more than willing to deal with the mixed results.