Richardson Needs More Reps, Colts Should Oblige

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It’s almost become a foregone conclusion that most teams will not play the majority of their starters after having joint practices with another team.  It was the case last year when the Colts hosted the Chicago Bears for a couple of practices ahead of their preseason match-up and it sounds like that will be the plan this week after the Colts and Arizona Cardinals wrap up joint practices.  I can’t stress enough how much I am against that idea.

First off, I don’t think any team should dictate their preseason playing time off of what another team is doing.  The Cardinals have already ruled out Kyler Murray for the preseason, we know other veterans around the league won’t play at all either.  That doesn’t mean the Colts need to copycat that mentality, especially with Anthony Richardson.

What’s good for we isn’t always good for me.  Anthony Richardson needs reps.  Not only because of his less than stellar performance in their preseason opener but because the kid just needs to start acclimating himself to the NFL game again.  There’s only so much that reps against the same defense day in and day out in pre-scripted plays can benefit you.  Richardson has seen very little NFL action since last fall and his first outing against the Denver Broncos wasn’t particularly impressive at all.  The Colts can put him up against the Cardinals for the next two days but you can’t tell me that those two practices are just as good, if not better, than an actual game.  Have you seen training camp practices in the year of our lord 2024?  They would make Bill Parcells blow a gasket by the sheer lack of contact and physicality.

Anthony Richardson isn’t your typical second year starter.  He needs to get out there, get his timing with receivers down, get his cadence and cohesion with the offensive line, processing and making adjustments at the line at what opposing defenses are throwing his way, having a legit chance to get pressured and tackled.  All of those things are invaluable and for a guy who has missed so much time, Richardson needs as much as he can get.

Let’s just say the Colts hold Richardson out of this week’s preseason game against the Cardinals.  That means his last chance of meaningful playing time is the preseason finale against the Cincinnati Bengals after a joint practice on August 20.  If for some reason Richardson is held out of that preseason finale game it means he won’t see the field until the season kicks off against the Houston Texans on September 8.  A full 17 days after the preseason finale.  Let me say that again: SEVENTEEN DAYS!  The limited amount of opportunities from now until the games start counting is extremely minimal and it would behoove the Colts and Richardson to get as many reps as possible before then.  I’m not saying he needs to play a full half of football in each remaining preseason game but would it really be counterproductive to give him a quarter each game?  Seven snaps isn’t going to cut it.

If the Colts season and the need for Richardson to be successful is as important as we all believe it is then the kid has got to get out there and play.  Let him make the mistakes and hone his skills now while the games don’t mean a damn thing.  Then when the opener happens, he’s ready to roll and not trying to find some rhythm out of the gate.  The NFL has become a copycat league in a lot of ways and I hope the Colts avoid going down the “it’s good enough for the Cardinals, it’s good enough for us” approach.  The Colts expectations are not the same as the Cardinals so why are you preparing for a season based on what Jonathan Gannon and company are doing?  Likewise for the Bengals.  You don’t have Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.  You haven’t been to a Super Bowl and back-to-back AFC Championship games. You haven’t earned the luxury of taking preseason lightly.

So don’t.

Otherwise, you reap what you sow.

Richardson Needs More Reps, Colts Should Oblige was originally published on 1075thefan.com