WESTFIELD, Ind. — From the sidelines, it was difficult to tell if Anthony Richardson’s wrapped pinky finger on his right hand affected his throwing ability.
Indianapolis spent the entire practice in the red zone, an area where Richardson has been at his least efficient in training camp so far.
Richardson completed 1 of 6 in 11-on-11 Saturday, although he did hit two throws to Adonai Mitchell in 7-on-7 drills.
Under pressure from defensive tackle Neville Gallimore on his first snap with the No. 2 offense, Richardson wasn’t able to hit Ashton Dulin. In his first set with the No. 1 offense, Richardson had his first pass batted away by defensive end Laiatu Latu, took a “sack” from a blitzing Zaire Franklin on the next play, then threw incomplete over the middle of the field and threw the ball away with no receiver available on his third pass of the session.
Richardson opened the final session of the day with a nicely layered ball to Michael Pittman Jr. in the corner of the end zone, but Pittman dropped the pass. On the next play, Richardson bounced back with a completion on a slant to Alec Pierce — a higher pass might have allowed Pierce to score, but he instead dove for the catch — and then Richardson scored on a touchdown run of his own.
How did Daniel Jones play in training camp?
Daniel Jones completed 5 of 6 passes in 11-on-11 work and 4 of 4 in 7-on-7, an efficient day in the red zone for the veteran quarterback.
After an accurate throw to Pierce was broken up by Johnathan Edwards, Jones hit completions to Tyler Warren and Mo Alie-Cox in his only 11-on-11 session with the starters. Working with the No. 1 offense in 7-on-7, Jones completed short throws to Jonathan Taylor, Josh Downs and Pittman, found himself forced to scramble on his fourth snap and then found Warren in the back of the end zone for a spectacular leaping catch.
When he shifted to the No. 2 offense, Jones hit Adonai Mitchell twice on touchdowns and completed a short out to Anthony Gould to finish his day.
Riley on the rise
Rookie quarterback Riley Leonard got off to a slow start in training camp.
But Leonard has bounced back in the last week, putting a firm hold on the No. 3 quarterback job. Leonard initially shared snaps with developmental quarterback Jason Bean, but he has been given the lion’s share of the No. 3 snaps over the last week.
Leonard turned in another strong day on Saturday, completing all four of his passes in 11-on-11 work, including touchdowns to Jelani Woods, Coleman Owen and Laquon Treadwell, although it looked like Leonard would have been sacked before the throw to Treadwell.
Colts QB camp counter
Richardson: 72 of 124, 8 TD, 2 INT in 11-on-11; 26 of 40, 2 TD, INT in 7-on-7
Jones: 95 of 135, 11 TD, INT in 11-on-11; 25 of 41, 4 TD, 3 INT in 7-on-7
Injury report
Pro Bowl middle linebacker Zaire Franklin was available for a full practice for the first time, lining up with the starters in 11-on-11 work. Veteran Joe Bachie was in the lineup with Franklin. Second-year linebacker Jaylon Carlies remains out due to an ankle injury.
A long list of Colts were held out of the first practice after the preseason opener. Starting strong safety Nick Cross, running back Khalil Herbert, wide receiver D.J. Montgomery, center Danny Pinter, tight end Sean McKeon and undrafted linebacker Solomon DeShields were not practicing.
Cornerbacks Jaylon Jones and JuJu Brents, who are both dealing with hamstring injuries, rode stationary bikes on the sideline along with Montgomery.
Quick hitters
Warren leveled rookie strong safety Hunter Wohler in space on Richardson’s touchdown run. … Undrafted rookie Johnathan Edwards took first-team snaps at cornerback in the absence of Jones, Brents and Justin Walley, who tore his ACL in the joint practice against the Ravens last week. … DeForest Buckner made stops at the line on runs by both Taylor and D.J. Giddens in 11-on-11 work. … Developmental linebacker Austin Ajiake stopped Tyler Goodson for a loss.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts camp observations: Anthony Richardson struggles, Daniel Jones sharp in red zone
Reporting by Joel A. Erickson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
