Colts management does not think this season will be the one that makes or breaks Anthony Richardson.
Richardson is heading into his third season in the NFL, and during his first two, he’s had plenty of ups and downs, inconsistencies and injuries, playing 15 games out of a possible 34 games.
Even with this tumultuous beginning of Richardson’s career, Colts general manager Chris Ballard said his young signal-caller doesn’t necessarily have to have a breakout season.
“Sometimes you got to have a little patience with a guy and let him grow through things.” Ballard told reporters Tuesday. “If you think, ‘Hey he’s on the right trajectory,’ why are you gonna flush him, just because people outside think you should flush him, I don’t agree with that.”
Though Ballard has backed his quarterback, the Colts brought in former Giant Daniel Jones this offseason to provide competition for the starting spot.
But the Indianapolis GM cited examples of teams giving up on their quarterbacks as a cautionary tale for what could happen if they punt on Richardson too quickly.
“Do you think people regret Baker Mayfield’s timeline? Sam Darnold’s timeline?” Ballard said.
In the case of the two quarterbacks Ballard mentioned, both flourished outside of the teams that drafted them.
The Browns moved on from Mayfield after four up-and-down seasons, and he’s now become a solid leader on the Buccaneers.
Darnold took multiple teams to find his mojo after getting drafted in 2018 by the Jets. Last year on the Vikings, his fourth NFL team, he led the team to the playoffs and earned a spot in the Pro Bowl for the first time, and he is now the starting quarterback for the Seahawks.
The comments come soon after owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon said Richardson still has time to become a franchise QB.
“Where he is in his career and in his deal as a rookie, we still have time,” Irsay-Gordon told Colts.com Monday.
“He still has time to prove it. … Bring a sense of urgency. And nothing brings a sense of urgency more than competition.”