The Colts drafted quarterback Anthony Richardson with the fourth overall pick last year but saw only brief flashes of his talent, as Richardson suffered a concussion in Week Two and a season-ending shoulder injury in Week Five. This year, Colts coach Shane Steichen wants Richardson to prioritize keeping himself healthy.
Part of the reason the Colts drafted Richardson is that he’s excellent at making plays with his legs and has the strength to break tackles when he needs to, but Steichen said Richardson has to know when to slide or step out of bounds to protect himself.
“I mean, it’s just being smart on when to get down,” Steichen told Albert Breer of SI.com. “It’s a happy medium. There’s a time and a place where it’s fourth down and you gotta have it and the game’s on the line, where you gotta go get it. But if it’s first-and-10 and you scramble and you can make it second-and-4 and take a big hit or make it second-and-6 and get down, Hey, let’s make it second-and-6.”
Richardson started only 13 games in his college career at Florida and then started only four games as a rookie. He still has a lot to learn about being a starting quarterback, and Steichen says the first thing to learn is to protect himself, so that he can start 17 games this season.