The Indianapolis Colts made headlines this morning when they decided to start Joe Flacco for the second straight week and have Anthony Richardson serve as the emergency third-string quarterback.
This might not have been big news had Richardson not been a full participant in practice on Thursday and Friday but the team decided to give him another week to rest up and ride with Flacco, who carved up the Jaguars a week ago.
The ESPN Countdown crew learned the news of Flacco starting live on air and the immediate reaction from Rex Ryan was that the Colts are "trying to win this game". It's hard to argue with Ryan here considering how dominant Flacco has been since taking for an injured Richardson in Week 4.
"They are trying to win this game."
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 13, 2024
The crew reacts to Joe Flacco starting for the Colts today 👀 pic.twitter.com/LeyNX9LS1Q
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The Colts were hoping to see Richardson pick up from where he left off before he was injured in Week 4 of his rookie campaign but he struggled to take care of the football in his four starts. Richardson threw six interceptions and was very up-and-down as a signal-caller.
Since Flacco stepped in after Richardson's injury, the long-time NFL veteran has thrown for 527 yards and five touchdowns while throwing zero picks. He's been red-hot and the Colts might have decided to keep sticking with him while giving their former first-round pick another week to heal up.
Rex Ryan says Colts are starting Joe Flacco because they're "trying to win"
While Flacco has been great since sliding into the starting role, he's not the future of the Indianapolis Colts. The hope is that Richardson can still figure things out and become the quarterback that the Colts were expecting him to be when they spent the fourth overall pick on him in 2023 but he only started four games as a rookie and then another four starts this year, giving him eight total starts.
It takes time for young quarterbacks to figure things out and Shane Steichen said that he will be starting Richardson when he's healthy enough to play. Perhaps Richardson simply just isn't healthy enough to go just yet.