WESTFIELD, Ind. – Anthony Richardson, figuratively, pointed the finger right at himself.
Reflecting on his dramatic 2024 season that included multiple injuries and a benching that came on the heels of some brutal optics, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback is all about accountability now.
“I didn’t do enough. That was really my big thing, for me. I didn’t do enough,” Richardson told a small group of reporters Tuesday, July 29. “I wanted to take a deeper dive into understanding myself and what I needed to improve on. After the last game, whenever that was, I just told myself ‘I can’t be slacking anymore. I got to lock in.’”
Richardson was inefficient during the early stretch of the Colts’ 2024 season, when he started six of the first eight games but missed two with an oblique injury. In a Week 8 loss to the Houston Texans, he asked to sit out a third-down play, which rubbed everyone from the locker room to pundits on television the wrong way and made Richardson a talking point for all of the wrong reasons.
“Life is humbling,” said Richardson, who turned 23 in May.
He finished the season with a 47.7% completion percentage, which ranked last among the 36 qualified quarterbacks who played in 2024. No other quarterback completed less than 60% of his throws.
That prompted him to recommit to his footwork this offseason. He noticed the sloppiness last year. Correcting the issue in-season would have been too difficult, so he talked about it with his trainer, Dr. Tom Gorley.
“The biggest thing for me is just my mechanics, my base,” Richardson said.
The goal is to not be too narrow with his feet, Richardson said. That’s when he misses high and overthrows his receivers. With a wider base, he can keep his arm on the proper plane and drive the ball to its proper trajectory. Repping the wide base and not specific drills. Is conscious about it during warmups to set the tone mentally.
Anthony Richardson sets pace in Colts’ QB competition, Daniel Jones not far behind
Through the first week of camp, Richardson said he feels more in control of the football. But that’s also come from taking a deeper dive into the offense – knowing where people are supposed to be is the precursor to properly setting his feet.
As for his shoulder, which cost him the last 13 games of his rookie season in 2023, Richardson said the injury that lingered during OTAs is not a concern. The pain would linger after lengthy throwing sessions, and even though he felt like he was ready to go, the Colts’ training staff wanted to let the issue calm down by itself. The Colts tracked Richardson’s reps during the first week of training camp, which featured four consecutive practice days, but it’s “back to (the) normal schedule now,” Richardson said.
Knowing exactly when the receiver will break open so that the ball will be there is another way to improve accuracy for Richardson.
“Now I feel like I’m trying to master (the offense),” said Richardson, who added that he wants to be able to teach Steichen’s scheme if the coach asked him to do so. “Understanding what’s going to be available in certain coverages … trying to find answers, trying to find certain ways to beat that.”
During Richardson’s rookie year, the staff told him to draw 10-15 route concepts on his iPad (the Goodnotes app, specifically) at night and show them the next morning. He said he’s been looking back at his old notes to try to understand what he didn’t then. He’ll play out different coverage scenarios such as “Who will be open if they play Cover 0?”
Entering this season, Richardson knew he needed to improve as a leader. What does that look like to him?
“For one, extreme ownership, even if things aren’t going the right way, even if it’s not quote unquote ‘my fault,’ it is my fault. Because I am the leader. I am the quarterback,” Richardson said. “If I’m not doing my job, then I can’t expect everybody else to do their job. So just taking accountability for everything that’s going on.
“If I expect so much out of myself, then that only brings my teammates up to my level. I’m just trying to get everybody to that level.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Anthony Richardson owns Colts’ 2024 disaster: ‘I didn’t do enough’
