Anthony Richardson has not had the easiest of careers so far. Besides his inconsistency when he has been able to play, he hasn't been healthy at most other times. In 2025, the Indianapolis Colts benched Richardson in favor of Daniel Jones, and AR5 still couldn't avoid injury.
His latest was his unluckiest. In the locker room before the Colts played the Arizona Cardinals on October 12, Richardson was using an exercise band when the bar on the band broke, which then hit the quarterback in the face. Richardson broke an orbital bone in the incident.
He initially suffered blurriness and was advised by doctors to rest the injury after he had surgery to hopefully repair the break. The quarterback remains on injured reserve, and according to head coach Shane Steichen, ahead of Week 14, the quarterback has not yet been cleared for football-related activities.
Timetable for Anthony Richardson's return to the Indianapolis Colts is still unknown
Richardson has visited Colts headquarters more often recently and appeared at Indianapolis's loss to the Houston Texans in Week 13, but he is still limited in performing strenuous tasks. Some of the blurriness in his eye appears to still be present, though the situation has improved quite a bit.
In other words, Anthony Richardson is getting better and should be able to live a normal life eventually (there was some initial concern this might not happen), but how soon he returns to playing football is unknown. The likelihood that his return will happen this season seems remote.
To be clear, for the human being, let's hope that Richardson is eventually perfectly fine and the break of his orbital bone is one day a distant, painful memory. He might not have been an extremely productive player yet, but wishing him ill will as a person would be wrong.
For the quarterback, he isn't going to play anyway as long as Daniel Jones's broken fibula does not get worse or he suffers a new injury. That, unfortunately, cannot be ruled out, though, just as it cannot be ruled out for any player. The NFL is a tough business.
The chances that the Indianapolis Colts get Anthony Richardson back in 2026 (assuming he is still on the roster and hasn't been traded) are great. He might still be a backup to Jones, as long as Indy re-signs its QB1 in free agency, but at least Richardson will have a return to normal life.