Following the Indianapolis Colts’ first training camp practice, head coach Shane Steichen discussed the quarterback competition between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones.
As GM Chris Ballard said on Tuesday, Richardson was on the practice field. Ballard also mentioned monitoring Richardson’s volume with him coming off the shoulder injury. To do that, while making sure the quarterback competition can fully be underway, as Steichen described, Richardson may miss out on some individual reps for the time being, but he and Jones will alternate first-team reps, so they each get the same number of opportunities.
“It’s good to see him back out there,” Steichen said via Locked on Colts. “We’ll have a plan–a maintenance plan for him, as you guys will see. We wanted him to get all the team reps, so you might not see him throw some individual reps every single day. So we’re working him back into that deal.
“With the way the reps are going to play out, those guys are going to get the same amount of reps just like you saw today, it’ll flip. They’ll both get reps with the ones every day because we have third down day and we don’t want one guy getting all the reps on third down and then same thing with red zone. You’ll see that back and forth.”
Richardson suffered a shoulder injury during OTAs, which limited his on-field reps during offseason programs. That left Jones to take all of the first team reps, and at that time, Steichen said he was “very pleased” with what he saw from the veteran.
What took place during OTAs and minicamp won’t determine who starts Week 1 for the Colts. Richardson was able to get mental reps during that time frame as well, however, as Steichen said, there is urgency for both quarterbacks this summer.
“I think he got the mental reps there in the spring, but again, I think obviously we gotta get the reps going here in training camp. Obviously, a lot of urgency at the position and all positions.”
As Steichen has said previously, ultimately, he is looking for the most consistent player at this position.
“I talk to these guys, met with them yesterday,” Steichen said, “sat down with them, talked about the consistency of the operation. Moving the ball up and down the field. Told those guys too, no timetable on this thing, let the process play out and we’ll go from there.”
Kevin Bowen of 107.5 The Fan said that the passing game “looked like a Day 1 operation.” There were some drops, inaccurate passes, and a “largely inefficient afternoon.”
This article originally appeared on Colts Wire: Shane Steichen weighs in on Colts’ QB competition after Day 1 of training camp
Reporting by Paul Bretl, Colts Wire / Colts Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
