INDIANAPOLIS – After further review, it wasn’t the volume of contact absorbed by Anthony Richardson as much as it was a few isolated incidents in Sunday’s season-opening loss to Houston.
Although to be perfectly honest, it didn’t require a second look to single out at least two plays the Indianapolis Colts undoubtedly will send in for NFL inspection from the 29-27 loss to the Texans.
- Texans’ defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. embracing Richardson in the second quarter, torquing and slamming him to the turf for a sack. The force knocked Richardson’s helmet off. The sellout crowd roared its disapproval when there was no flag on the play.
- Texans rookie cornerback Kamari Lassiter adding an unnecessary punctuation mark to Richardson’s 10-yard scramble in the fourth quarter. Richardson escaped pressure by going to his left. He sidestepped safety Jalen Petre and was being pulled down from behind by Edwards near the sideline. Then, Lassiter arrived and delivered a helmet-leading hit.
Again, the crowd’s displeasure for no flag resonated. Guard Quenton Nelson waved his arms in disbelief.
After the game, Richardson sided with the officials.
“Some people are saying it should have been a flag, but I don’t know,’’ he said. “It’s just football to me.’’
In his post-game press conference, Shane Steichen’s response to that play was brief.
“I didn’t really see what happened,’’ he said, “I just saw him get slammed. I’ll leave it at that.’’
Monday, Steichen and others inside the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center were more adamant action should have been taken at the time. They believe those type of plays merited penalty flags, and those plays in particular probably will be part of the usual package the Colts send every week for NFL assessment.
Steichen responded to a question regarding hits absorbed by Richardson with hesitancy, but a stern look.
“I think some of those, I don’t want to get into too much detail, but there were a few that, yeah, you guys know. You saw ‘em,’’ he said Monday. “Yeah, we’ll look at those and get those looked at for sure.’’
Richardson’s size – 6-4, 250-ish – shouldn’t be taken into consideration, that he can handle the punishment.
“No,’’ Steichen said. “I’m not going to get into it. But all those deals, when there’s hits like that, it doesn’t matter who the quarterback is. You know what I mean? Some of those things, yeah . . . ’’
There was no further elaboration.
Richardson attempted 19 passes, was sacked twice and scrambled a few times. The official box score credited the Texans with no other “hits’ on him.
On the late fourth-quarter drive that ended with Richardson carrying a few Texans into the end zone for a 3-yard TD, he was shown flexing his right hand. His hand seemed to hit either Danielle Hunter or Tim Settle Jr. on a first-down pass attempt.
Richardson also had a bandage on his left hand.
“That’s just football,’’ he said after the game. “It’s going to be physical out there. You’ve just got to play through.
“I love physical football. I didn’t get here from playing soft.’’
About that throw
Steichen hasn’t changed his impression of Richardson’s 60-yard touchdown pass to Alec Pierce.
Sunday, he said “I don’t think I’ve seen a throw like that.’’
Richardson dropped back into the pocket, slipped, regained his balance and launched a pass that covered 65 yards.
Video review simply confirmed Steichen’s opinion.
“That was probably the best throw I’ve ever seen,’’ he said. “Close one was probably [Patrick] Mahomes when I was at the Chargers in ’20, to Tyreek Hill.
“But it was impressive. It was 65 yards, slipped at the top and just freaking launched that thing and hit Alec in stride. I mean yeah, it was impressive as all get out for sure.”
Injury update
Steichen said defensive end DeForest Buckner was “progressing’’ after suffering a back injury near the end of Sunday’s game.
“He got treatment today,’’ he said. “He’s tough as nails, as you guys know. He’s battled through stuff his whole career.
“So, looking forward to him getting the treatment and hopefully everything’s good to go this week.’’
The status of wide receiver Josh Downs (ankle) and kicker Matt Gay (hernia) will be determined later this week.
Packers going with Willis
The Colts will look to bounce back from Sunday’s loss with their week 2 trip to Green Bay.
They caught a break when Packers’ starting quarterback Jordan Love suffered a sprained MCL in his left knee in the opening loss to Philadelphia. He’s expected to miss 3-6 weeks.
Monday, Packers coach Matt LaFleur announced Malik Willis will start against the Colts.
Willis was a 2022 third-round pick of the Tennessee Titans who was traded to Green Bay in August. He appeared in 12 games with three starts with Tennessee and struggled: 52.2 completion percentage, no touchdowns, three interceptions, a 48.7 rating.
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.
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