The hits for the Indianapolis Colts keep on coming after their shocking decision to bench starting quarterback Anthony Richardson. After the team's loss to the Houston Texans in Week 8, head coach Shane Steichen confirmed that the media leak regarding Richardson being benched in favor of Joe Flacco were true, immediately setting off an avalanche of criticism.
And if the Colts thought Richardson's statement to the media about being tired was bad, they should hold on to their hats, because it's only about to get worse.
During Steichen's press conference, he said Flacco will be the team's starter moving forward, indicating that Richardson's benching is not just temporary. Additionally, he said he can't speak for the team as to how they feel about the decision, and now, we might know why.
According to James Boyd, who covers the Colts for the Athletic, Michael Pittman, Jr. said he heard the news on social media, instead of being directly informed by Steichen himself.
#Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr. said he found out about the QB change through social media.
— James Boyd (@RomeovilleKid) October 30, 2024
While we can't know for sure that other players were in similar positions, it's certainly a reasonable assumption to make that no one was informed, save for Richardson and Flacco themselves, before the media found out about this decision. And so the dumpster fire that is this QB decision grows.
No member of the Colts team should have had to find out about such a major decision through social media. They all should have been informed personally and privately, especially the team captains, which does include Pittman. The decision to bench Richardson would almost surely already be eroding the team's trust in their head coach, but then to find out that he didn't even bother to tell them first?
Flacco may lead the Colts to a few more wins, and potentially even the playoffs, but was all of this really worth it?