Anthony Richardson Sr. had a tough start to his make-or-break third training camp. But two big days have showcased the work he's putting in.
WESTFIELD, Ind. -- Anthony Richardson Sr. dropped back under duress, with the pocket closing in on either side. He wanted to step up but found a wall of bodies on the second day of padded practices.
So he peered into the sun and heaved the ball away.
But unlike the moonshot that has so far defined his career, that 65-yard bomb to Alec Pierce against the Texans, this one came in much different packaging.
It escaped his hand with the look of a wounded duck, except this animal had a flight path, too. It wobbled up and down rather than float, down the field from where Anthony Gould wrestled with a cornerback for outside leverage, before landing in a spot inside where the cornerback couldn't reach but where Gould could turn to his back shoulder and reel it in.
On the sidelines, Shane Steichen exploded in enthusiasm over what he saw.
This was Richardson feeling a groove in his sixth practice of his first true NFL quarterback competition, which is against Daniel Jones. He's in the middle of the best two-practice stretch he's had since his rookie season, following up Monday's 6-of-6 performance with an 9-of-14 day that pulled his completion percentage for the stretch to 75%.
Those are major improvements on the first four practices, when he sat below 50% and had yet to flash a good deep ball. It's just been two days, but now his unappealing passes are creating chunk gains and showing something his coaches have been begging for out of him: more quarterback instincts.
It's pulled his camp-long numbers up to 54% completions with five touchdown passes and one interception.
"You can see that Anthony's sort of offseason work is paying off," offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said.
GO DEEPER: Chasing Tim Tebow, idolizing Tom Brady, fighting fires: Making of Colts QB Anthony Richardson
Richardson spent this offseason drilling down on footwork and ball placement on short and intermediate routes specifically. That was a work in progress early in camp, but what has been consistently smoother has been his ability to layer the ball and lead a receiver moving east-west outside the numbers. Those two areas had plagued him dating back to his throwing session at the NFL Scouting Combine, which offered a window into the 54.7% completion rate that served as a red flag from his career at Florida.
After his completion rate dropped from 59.5% in just four games as a rookie to 47.7% in 11 games in his second year, that flag became as red as ever entering this offseason.
To fix the results, Richardson needed a different process. He had to answer one of the flags even more red than his accuracy, for in addition to durability concerns, questions popped up consistently last season about his seriousness, focus and work habits to be a franchise quarterback.
That's what this summer became all about.
"All the greats, they always do more. They do more than what other people are expecting them to do," Richardson said. "After last season, I felt like I needed to do more not only for the team, but for myself.
"If I want to so called be a great and I want to be in the Hall of Fame one day, I have to do more."
It's too early to draw conclusions, but the bright spots are better than the fire alarms that haunted his second season.
"I think his comfort level within the offense is rising and rising and rising every year, every rep, every game week or offseason phase or any of that stuff. He's getting more and more and more comfortable," Cooter said. "That allows you to play a little bit faster at quarterback, which can let your feet play better, let your feet time up better, and then the nuts and bolts of the thing is just the offseason sort of work he's putting in to make his throws, to work his footwork, to work his upper body (and) all of that stuff.
"It's an ongoing sort of push at the quarterback position to be accurate really, really consistently, and to be able to throw a bunch of different balls."
He let his deep ball get rusty in order to drill down on the boring.
That surgically repaired right shoulder showed last season the distances it's capable of, starting with that 65-yard touchdown pass against the Texans. Richardson did have a setback with the shoulder during the offseason program that shut him down until sometime during the summer break, so he still has to prove the strength and durability are where it will need to be for a 17-game season.
So far, this camp has been all about introducing something new.
"I feel like I got more control over the ball," Richardson said. "... I feel like I have been slightly more consistent when it comes to my footwork, but it's just me thinking about my reps that I've been doing during the offseason and just thinking about mental cues for myself. Just thinking about my base helping me deliver the ball and get the ball to the guys.
"That's really what I've been focused on – making sure I'm moving smooth in the pocket so I can get the playmakers the ball. So, that's all I'm trying to do."
Nice catch by Treadwell from Richardson. Head to https://t.co/33Ugb8JEvw for plenty of camp coverage via insiders @JoelAErickson & @NateAtkins_ ->https://t.co/bKDBxuLzVI#Coltspic.twitter.com/hslR9TfOrs
— Clark Wade (@ClarkWade34) July 28, 2025
It's easy to build strong vibes this time of year when games can't be won or lost and the battle for a starting role is too early to draw any actual conclusions.
Steichen plans to take until the first week of the season if needed to decide between Richardson and Jones. He'll use joint practices and preseason games as bigger tells than these scripted practices against teammates, and he's emphasized that the most consistent player will ultimately win the job.
The pressure is on Richardson like it never has been before, entering a third season that will eventually bring a decision on his fifth-year option and could decide the fates of many within the organization. He's living in that, baking in it, and seeing what kind of man emerges through the process.
"This organization believed in me enough to draft me (as a) top-five pick. So I don't think there's any more pressure," Richardson said.
"It's just me working hard and proving them right and letting them know that they chose the right guy."
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts QB Anthony Richardson is finding his groove after early camp struggles
Category: Football
