Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson barely scratched the surface last year, due to a concussion followed by a season-ending shoulder injury. As he prepares for his second season, Richardson resists the notion that he needs to change his playing time.
“I don’t think there’s any way I could have avoided what happened to me,” Richardson said Wednesday, via NFL.com. “Just a regular, routine tackle. I tried to brace myself for the fall and just my shoulder did what it did. There’s nothing I could do about that.”
But he, like every quarterback, could make adjustments aimed at reducing contact.
“Changing my game and my play style? I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong with my play style,” Richardson said. “People see me, I’m a big quarterback, so they always think, ‘Oh, he wants to run the ball all the time, he wants to be physical and that’s what’s gonna get him hurt.’ But that’s not the case. The times I did get hurt. . . . The one time, the one concussion, that was me completely because I slowed down by the end zone -- you’re never supposed to do that. Everything else, it just happened because we play a dangerous game, and there’s nothing I can do about that.
“But necessarily changing my play? I don’t think I’m gonna change it, but being smart, knowing when to get extra yards and knowing when to get down, I feel like I know how to do that. It’s just I have to do it and do it at the right time, I guess. I don’t know if I’m gonna change my game, but being smarter for the team, of course.”
So he’s not gonna change his playing style, but he sort if is. The change doesn’t need to be dramatic. It’s all about knowing when to get rid of the game or get out of bounds or get down.
It’s a matter of percentages. The fewer the hits taken, the lower the chance that one of those hits will result in an injury.
That doesn’t mean Richardson should change how he plays. It does mean he should try to protect himself.
If Richardson can’t play, that doesn’t help the Colts. And it also places a hard ceiling over his NFL prospects — and his earning potential.
