4. Where does this leave Anthony Richardson Sr.?

Last week, in the wake of Steichen’s decision to start Jones over Richardson, wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. went to the 2023 No. 4 overall pick with a message.

“Don’t stop doing the things that you were doing,” Pittman told Richardson.

What Pittman – and the Colts – saw over the last few weeks and months was growth from Richardson. He didn’t lose the team’s quarterback competition because he didn’t get better.

“He was improving, he still is,” Pittman told me on last week’s episode of The Colts Show. “And he’s still so young that for him to give up now I think would be a huge waste — he’s not doing that. But I just wanted to encourage him to keep on pushing forward. He’s so dang young. Quarterbacks can play until they’re 40 years old — he’s 23. There’s still so much football ahead of him and then I want to see him get there and achieve everything he set out to do.”

Steichen, ultimately, made his decision because Jones showed more consistency this year than Richardson.

Pittman noticed something with Richardson last week, though – it was notable that the now-backup quarterback’s attitude didn’t change.

“I think Ant has been great,” Pittman said. “The way that he handles all this pressure, he handles it like a real pro. There’s lots of guys that would be like, you know what, forget this, they’re doing me wrong, I give up, I’m gonna skip out and demand a trade. And he hasn’t done any of that. He’s stuck around here and he’s gonna keep working. I see him still grinding and getting better each day, and I think that’s really his goal is to get better each day. And then we’ll look up and he’ll — you never know what happens. Geno Smith, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, all guys who people wrote off.”

Those names – Smith, Darnold, Mayfield – were brought up by Ballard back in July, when the Colts reported to training camp. He didn’t bring them up as examples of quarterbacks figuring things out when they went to other teams; he brought them up as examples of quarterbacks having non-linear development timelines.

“The plan for him is to continue to develop,” Turner said. “He still has a job, a role, a responsibility, which is our backup quarterback, and he has to be prepared to dot hat. And then my job is to help develop him and continue to grow, because he is so young. We don’t want to give up on him. We want to keep growing, continuing to learn and develop as a quarterback.”

For 2025, Richardson is the Colts’ backup quarterback; the Colts have had their backup start multiple games in each of the last three seasons. While Jones will not have a short leash, Steichen said, the Colts will need Richardson to be ready – while continuing to develop behind the scenes – throughout the 2025 season.

“(Jones) definitely has years (of) experience, time on task ahead of Anthony — throughout college, throughout the NFL and the little things he’s seen, he’s adjusted to, he’s already executed,” Turner said. “Anthony has not at this point with only a few years of reps in games. Anthony’s made huge strides since he’s been here in practice and throughout games, and you see it, you see the development and improvement. I do think he’ll get there. I think he’ll keep continuing to develop and learn from Daniel.”

Also, Steichen was asked Thursday if Richardson could be a part of short-yardage packages for the Colts’ offense this season. His answer:

“I want to make sure he crushes his new role and takes it in stride and does a hell of a job there,” Steichen said. “And so, we’ll see.”