Indianapolis Colts Head coach Shane Steichen shocked the football world by benching starting quarterback Anthony Richardson in favor of a reinforcement of veterans Joe Flacco.

This decision was made after a poor performance by Richardson against the Houston Texans who understood second-year quarterback leaves before a third play and a goal because he was “tired”. Flacco gave the Colts the best chance to win now, Steichen said, and would allow Richardson to reset.

Two weeks after Steichen announced the quarterback change, Colts head coach ready to give up the keys to the kid they took with the No. 4 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

“I’ve been saying process, process, for a long time and what I mean by that — is the attention to detail in everything (Richardson) does,” Steichen said. “From the classrooms to the tours to the practices to the weight room, all those little things – it just has to be at a higher level. That’s what we’ve talked about and it’s there that we went to. So this was discussed with him two weeks ago and these were the conversations that took place.

“Over the last couple of weeks, he’s made progress in those areas, big strides toward becoming a pro. Is he a finished product? No, he’s not. It’s my job to help him to get there, with the rest of the coaching but he’s a hell of a talent. That being said, we never lost confidence in him and his abilities. he will be our starter again. He will start this week, he will start the rest of the season and we will go from there.

Richardson will command the Colts offense when Indy takes the field against the New York Jets. The benching was a wake-up call for Richardson, who didn’t know if he would get the opportunity to start another game for the Colts.

But Richardson took the bench as a teaching moment, going back to the drawing board and working to prove he understood what it meant to be a pro and a franchise quarterback.

“Just show that I’m ready to be a pro and I’m willing to sacrifice whatever I have to do for the team,” Richardson admitted. “I feel like these last couple of weeks have definitely opened my eyes and allowed me to have the opportunity to do that and dive deeper and look at myself and see what I’m really made of. So, I’m grateful for these last two weeks and I’m low key, glad it happened.

Steichen and the Colts wanted to see more of Richardson in everything he did. The best quarterbacks in the NFL have an intense work ethic that surpasses anyone else in the locker room. Attention to detail must be present in all aspects of daily work.

This attention to detail is what Richardson lacked. Learning how to be a professional during the week and what that entails as a franchise quarterback is what Richardson, 22, is actively trying to accomplish.

“I’m new to this. I’m still new to this. I’m still learning information,” Richardson said candidly. “But when it comes to being a professional, you feel like you’re doing a lot of things right, but when it comes to sacrifices, there are always more things to sacrifice – like time and that sort of things So just being a pro and just learning more about it, I’m glad Shane gave me the opportunity to do it.

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Richardson has also used the last two weeks to focus on being consistent in his work on and off the field. While much of the focus has been on how the quarterback is improving in his game, the Colts wanted to see an improvement in his preparation.

Since being benched, Richardson has been more meticulous in his film studies and in the meeting rooms, remaining an active participant even if he didn’t see the court. Now that he’s back on the field as a starter, that same attention to detail needs to not only be there, but taken to another level.

“I’ve been working on consistency,” Richardson remarked. “That’s always been one of my things. Just trying to perfect that and get better. Just being consistent in all aspects. But this week and the last two weeks, I’ve been trying to focus on extra sacrifices the guys asked me to do certain things – even though I didn’t want to do it, man, you have to do it because it’s a sacrifice, and they do it, so why not. do it?

That sacrifice of spending more time in the building with film study, in the weight room, on the practice field and all the preparation is necessary from a franchise quarterback. Richardson didn’t know if he would ever get the chance to prove he could be a franchise quarterback for the Colts again. Even if the Colts never gave up on Richardson, it would be up to him to decide if he gets another chance at the starting job.

The bench forced Richardson to look in the mirror and examine the areas he lacked in terms of preparation and attention to detail. If he ever wanted to return to the field, these changes needed to be made.

The Colts now feel like Richardson understands and is doing the things necessary for him to succeed.

“As a competitor, you never want to be on the sidelines,” Richardson said. “You always feel like there’s an opportunity for you to go out there and help the team. But being on the sideline, it just allowed me to watch and see some of the things that I could fix on myself – some things the team needed help with and I’m still grateful for the opportunity I’m glad Shane felt like he was the guy again.

Thanks to the benches, Richardson never lost his faith in the locker room. He never lost the trust of the coaching staff and front office. And Richardson never lost faith in Steichen, knowing that even though it wasn’t what he wanted, his head coach decided to bench him with his best interest at heart.

In the meantime, Steichen received much criticism in the media and by the fans for putting the young quarterback on the shelf. The ambiguity of the situation led to widespread rumors and frustration among a fan base who felt they had been lied to. Some continue to have complete trust in Steichen and the organization for how they handled these unique circumstances.

But winning cures a lot of things. If Steichen’s decision to return to Richardson leads to a more focused and capable quarterback capable of grinding out wins and keeping the Colts in the thick of the playoff race, much will be forgiven.

For Richardson, all he thinks about is doing everything he can to make his team win football games.

“The only thing I’m ready to prove now is that I’m ready to be the guy on this team,” Richardson said. “Whatever they need from me, whatever they ask of me, I’m going to try to do it in the best way possible. Whether it’s leadership, note-taking, meetings, style game, whatever they need from me, I’m I’m ready to do it and show it to the team and the fans because we’re all trying to win and that’s the goal.

Richardson is back in the Colts’ starting lineup after receiving the message loud and clear that what he was doing before wasn’t up to par. With Richardson now striving to not only meet, but exceed that standard, time will tell if the bench ends up being the turning point in a successful career as a Colts franchise quarterback.

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