WESTFIELD, Ind. – Anthony Richardson’s first completion of Thursday’s training camp practice at Grand Park required not just accuracy, but pinpoint accuracy.
Richardson, on his first full-team dropback of the day, ripped a pass over the middle to Michael Pittman Jr., who was running parallel to the line of scrimmage about 10 or 15 yards downfield. The pass was thrown away from Pittman’s body, leading him over the middle, and Pittman plucked it out of the air for a catch.
The ball had to be there, because cornerback Charvarius Ward was draped all over Pittman’s back hip in coverage.
A pass on the numbers to Pittman could’ve been broken up. If the throw was slightly behind Pittman, it might’ve been picked off by the veteran cornerback, who’s played sticky coverage to begin training camp – and has consistently challenged Richardson and Daniel Jones whenever they’ve thrown his way.
“We’re facing a lot of tight coverage out there,” offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. “At receiver, they’re pressing up, they’re running tightly with our receivers, which makes the quarterbacks really have to deliver the ball exactly where they want to, because a lot of times that DB is right in position to make a play if you don’t throw the ball accurately. It’s been really good from that standpoint.”
This isn’t just about Ward and the talent the Colts possess on defense. Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, even while installing the basics of his scheme, has already given the Colts’ offense some challenging looks just a few days into training camp.
“A multiple scheme, sticky in coverage on the back end,” head coach Shane Steichen said. “He’ll do a lot of different things as we get going in camp, which will be good for our offense too, to make us better. So, excited about what he’s got going over there.”
As training camp goes on and the Colts’ offense installs more of its plays, Anarumo’s defense will continue to build on its basics. This is a defense designed to, as safety Cam Bynum said, “never make it easy for a quarterback.”
They’ll show a certain coverage and rotate to another; or, maybe, the coverage they’re showing pre-snap is the one they’ll play after the snap. They’ll throw a wrinkle into a traditional coverage that’s difficult for quarterbacks to anticipate. And they’ll disguise everything, so what a quarterback sees before the snap might not be what he sees once the ball’s in his hands.
“He’s a great defensive coordinator,” Jones said. “I think one of the things that separates him is just the amount of coverages he can play from similar looks. There’s a little twist to a lot of the coverages. They’re maybe not the traditional way you’ve seen other teams play a similar coverage.”
The challenge of competing to start while facing a stealthy, talented defense is one both Jones and Richardson are embracing during training camp.
“I actually love it,” Richardson said. “You know, especially during OTAs, they were throwing out different looks, and I was actually kind of excited for that. It makes me process things a little bit differently, and it helps me get more answers whenever things aren’t going the best way for our offense. It gives me a chance to just find ways to move the ball and complete passes. So, I’m definitely excited to keep working against those guys and definitely learning their defense a little bit more.”
Eventually, Anarumo’s defense will be some other team’s problem. Guys like Ward and Bynum and Kenny Moore II will have to be accounted for by opposing offensive coordinators and quarterbacks.
But for now, the Colts’ offense – while going through a quarterback competition – is appreciating the fastballs, changeups, curveballs, knuckleballs, eephus pitches, etc. Anarumo and his defense are throwing at them.
“All that stuff makes you better,” Cooter said. “It’s the old, iron sharpens iron type of thought process. But the more varied looks we can get, the tighter coverage looks we can get, it’s going to be better for all of us, but really good for the quarterbacks.”