Although the Indianapolis Colts benched second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson after his flop Week 8 performance against the Houston Texans, that doesn't mean he was available ahead of the trade deadline. The Colts are using Joe Flacco as their starter and despite receiving calls from multiple teams on the status of their 22-year-old signal-caller, Indianapolis made it abundantly clear he was off-limits, per ESPN's Stephen Holder.
Richardson stayed humble in his reaction to the benching after the fact.
“Of course, it hurts,” Richardson told the media. “As a competitor, I definitely don't wanna be told that you're not the guy anymore for the upcoming week. But it's all good. Using the moment as an opportunity to grow and just learn from my mistakes.”
The 4-5 Colts are still far from out of it and are just two games behind the Houston Texans in the AFC South.
Colts must remain patient in building up their potential superstar quarterback
There are many detractors, but at least one member of the Colts' defense has Richardson's back. Linebacker Zaire Franklin spoke up for the former first-round pick.
“Oh, 100%. I still believe he’s the future of this team,” Franklin said. “I know that sounds crazy to everybody right now, but that’s something I still full-heartedly believe —that he’s the future of the Indianapolis Colts.
“I wouldn't say he lost the locker room at all. He was a young player that was making mistakes and we knew we had to grow with him. The things that he was struggling with and were trying to work on at the time, were things that we all understood, especially from a defensive side of the ball. I would never say it was a loss in confidence because we understood there was going to be highs and lows with everything.”
ESPN's Stephen Holder reported that the Colts view Richardson's benching as a “timeout.”
“Internally, the Colts are viewing the benching as something of a timeout for Richardson,” Holder wrote. “According to multiple sources, it's being framed as an opportunity for him to improve his game preparation and better understand the gravity of the job, an area the team thinks he has been lacking. This, sources said, was even more a factor in the decision than Richardson's on-field performance.
“Whether such expectations were previously communicated to Richardson is less clear. Richardson was surprised by the benching, according to a source close to Richardson, because he did not realize he was falling short in this area.”
The Colts already announced Flacco would start at home in Week 10 against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, November 10 at 1:00 p.m. EST.
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