Colts owner Jim Irsay is never afraid to give his opinion when it comes to quarterbacks. So perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that Irsay is already weighing in on a potential QB battle between No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson and veteran Gardner Minshew.

In an interview on the Pat McAfee Show, Irsay made his thoughts clear on who he wants to see behind center on Sundays.

“For Anthony Richardson, it’s going to be tough. We know that,” Irsay said on the Pat McAfee Show on Monday. “But he has to play to get better. I mean, there’s no question. Gardner [Minshew] could play come out and obviously play better early on, just being a veteran, but we have to get Anthony on the field. That’s Shane’s call when he decides to do it.”

Jim Irsay's vote of confidence in Anthony Richardson is on-brand, as the Colts owner told Zak Keefer after the draft that he knew Richardson was, “going to be the guy…even early in the process, even back in February.”

The message to first-year head coach Shane Steichen, who skillfully guided Jalen Hurts's ascent into one of the league's best signal-callers in Philadelphia, appears to be that Irsay is willing to take some lumps early on for the sake of Richardson‘s development.

For a team that has featured a turnstile of aging veterans at the position in the post-Andrew Luck era, committing to an exciting prospect like Anthony Richardson, who graded out as the most athletic QB the draft combine has ever seen, feels like a critical part of the team's new direction.

While this battle is still worth watching in training camp — especially given Richardson's relative inexperience and Gardner Minshew's familiarity with Steichen from his time in Philadelphia — you don't have to read any tea leaves to figure out that Irsay wants Richardson on the field when the real games begin.