Anthony Richardson is back! Only, not really. The Indianapolis Colts quarterback broke his orbital bone in pregame warmups for Week 6, and he hasn't been able to play since. More importantly for him as a human being, he hasn't been able to see clearly.
Football aside, the long-term hopes for the quarterback are that he suffers no life-altering issues from having an exercise band break, and the bar flying up and hitting him in the face. He was immediately taken to the hospital and had surgery. Who cares about football when there is fear someone could lose an eye?
Still, Richardson almost certainly wants to come back to playing football because that is where he could earn generational wealth. He has one year left on his rookie deal (unless the Colts pick up his fifth-year option), and he obviously would like his chance to prove to the team (or any team) that he deserves a long-term contract.
Shane Steichen discusses the return of Indianapolis Colts QB Anthony Richardson
Yet, while speaking to the media ahead of Week 16, head coach Shane Steichen brought some much-needed reality to the Richardson situation. The team opened the QB's 21-day window for return, but that doesn't mean he will come back this season. The window being opened only allows a team to asses the player's health. There is no guarantee of activation.
Steichen told the media on Thursday, "He still has some vision limitations in his eye. So, we’re gonna get him back on the practice field, get him throwing, doing some scout team reps. So, it’s just something that he’s gonna have to manage through the process."
Let's be clear here: Based on what Steichen said, Anthony Richardson is nowhere near returning to play. The QB is only at the very early steps of the process for return, and expecting him to go from not playing even before the injury to suddenly supplanting recently unretired Philip Rivers is foolish. Rivers is going to play. Riley Leonard is going to backup.
The ultimate hope is that whatever work Anthony Richardson can get in now only helps him next season. The team still has to decide whether to try to re-sign Daniel Jones, who was lost for the season with an Achilles tendon tear in Week 14, or have Richardson possibly revert to QB1 in 2026.
The next three weeks for Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts are important, but only from the standpoint of the future and not the current. Philip Rivers is the quarterback for now.