The Indianapolis Colts are now six training camp practices in. Over the last two in particular, quarterback Anthony Richardson has been building momentum with some strong showings.
While we are still in the relatively early going of the training camp and preseason process, what has offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter seen from Richardson up to this point?
“You can see that Anthony’s offseason work is paying off,” offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. “Anthony’s diligent about his offseason work habits. When you’ve been in the league a few years, you start figuring out areas to work on over your offseason, whether you’re a quarterback working on different types of passes or different types of footwork, receivers catching different balls or running different routes, that’s an important part of being a professional and playing at a really high level.
Cooter continued, “He’s gotta keep going. We gotta keep working on it. We gotta keep pushing to get better. But we’re always encouraged when a guy goes out and puts work in and shows up and plays a little bit better because of it.”
According to the Indy Star’s Joel Erickson, Richardson completed all six of his pass attempts in Monday’s 11-on-11 work, and he was also 4-for-4 during the 7-on-7 period.
Then on Tuesday, Richardson was 9-for-14 in the 11-on-11 periods and 4-for-5 in the 7-on-7 periods. As the numbers illustrate, improved accuracy and ball placement have been key to Richardson’s recent success.
“I think his comfort level within the offense is rising and rising and rising,” Cooter said of Richardson’s play. “Every year, every rep, every game week, or every offseason phase, he’s getting more and more comfortable. That allows you to play a little bit faster at quarterback, which can let your feet play better.
“Can let your feet time up better and then the nuts and bolts of things is the offseason work he’s putting in to make his throws, to work his footwork, to work his upperbody, all that stuff is an on going push at the quarterback position to be accurate really, really consistently to be able to throw a bunch of different balls…Anthony’s doing a nice job right now.”
As Richardson detailed at the start of training camp, an offseason priority for him was on being more accurate on those short to intermediate throws, one season after he completed just 47% of his total passes.
In order to accomplish that, Richardson emphasized his footwork, which for a quarterback is where proper mechanics and therefore accuracy all begins.
“I think footwork is key,” Cooter said. “When your feet are right, your timing is right, you’re in rhythm, the ball comes out a little bit more rhythmically. The feet lead the whole thing. So when you’re feet are off you might be ready to throw when the receiver’s not ready and now your body is a little bit one direction or the other, you don’t quite throw the ball as well as you should.”
As Shane Steichen has said, there is no timetable for when a decision will be made in regards to who the Week 1 starter is, and ultimately, he is looking for the most consistent overall player.
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Colts’ Jim Bob Cooter evaluates Anthony Richardson’s play after 6 training camp practices
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Colts Wire / Colts Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
