Westfield, IN — The Indianapolis Colts concluded training camp festivities at Grand Park Sports Campus with a scrimmage-centric joint practice with the Green Bay Packers.
While both teams were gearing up for their preseason matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium this Saturday, the joint practice was an invaluable evaluation period for the Colts’ ongoing quarterback competition. Unfortunately for Colts fans, media, and personnel alike, little to no headway was made in this department. However, reading the tea leaves suggests the starter has already been named, and the competition is just being played out.
As is tradition for any NFL joint practice, the scrimmage-heavy day was split into two fields of work. On one side, the Colts offense scrimmaged against the Packers defense, and vice versa. As a result, I was only able to focus on one phase of the game — I was hyper-focused on the illustrious quarterback competition — though I did catch a few 11-on-11 sessions between the Colts’ starting defense and the Malik Willis-led Packers offense.
It was an honor being able to cover the Colts’ training camp at Grand Park in full, but this marks the last time I’ll be a credentialed media member this season. Without further ado, here are my notes from the Colts’ last training camp practice of the year, a quarterback-focused observation:
To close out training camp, instead of one quarterback separating themself from the competition, we saw more of the same. Not only was it the goal to have someone deemed the winner by this point, but progression was the main objective. That isn’t to suggest that Anthony Richardson hasn’t improved, because he certainly has, even if marginally, but some of his biggest concerns have resurfaced in recent weeks. It’s especially disappointing when you consider how strong a camp he had been having up until the team’s preseason opener. Since sporting a freshly dislocated pinkie finger, Richardson has maintained his newfound footwork and established decisiveness as a passer, but has devolved into lacking consistency with precision while inviting his injury-prone status back into the fray. Regardless, it’s evident that Richardson is more comfortable and subsequently more successful during his run with the starters than he’s been with the second unit.
It’ll inevitably get brought back up, but the slew of inconsistencies from Indy’s offensive line was an additional obstacle for both quarterbacks. From false starts that may or may not have been a byproduct of cadence issues to erratic center snaps and poor pass protection overall, it was an uninspiring showing from what’s been touted as a top unit leaguewide.
Richardson began the day slinging it across 1-on-1s. I have to preface, it is just 1-on-1s, but Richardson’s arm talent was on full display. He had a couple of legit misfires, but was otherwise dotting up the Packers defenders. In particular, Richardson was throwing with great touch and layering on multiple occurrences, most of which were on intermediate to deep throws outside the numbers. To cap off an impressive start, Richardson found Anthony Gould in stride up the right sideline and into the end zone for a strong pitch and catch.
Moving into his first team period of the day, an 11-on-11 session with the starters, Richardson put on a quick and efficient showing. It was a balanced opening game plan (3 rushes, 3 passes), and the starting offense was firing on all cylinders as each of the six plays resulted in positive yardage. Two rushes were solid Jonathan Taylor gap runs with the third being a DJ Giddens wide zone for a decent gain. Through the air, Richardson hit Taylor on a checkdown, found Giddens leaking for several, and connected with Michael Pittman Jr. on a RPO slant.
During his next two team periods, both with the second unit, Richardson’s day slowly bottomed out before an eventual strong finish when returning with the starters. Overall, Richardson was more or less his typical self as he threw at a ~50% clip in 11-on-11 sessions, and the bulk of those incompletions came during his run with the backups. He certainly needs to be a steady hand regardless of the talent level he’s provided, but it’s worth noting.
Richardson wasn’t all bad in his first session with the second unit, even having a couple of strong moments. He was sacked quickly off play-action in the offense’s initial snap and had to throw it away on the play following. Although it ended in a drop, the next play was a strong one from Richardson as he sensed the pressure, stepped up into the pocket, and delivered a strike to his left outside the numbers. On the final play of the session, Richardson took it himself after finding nothing while rolling right and it looked like it may have had an explosive rush in a live game.
Red zone play could’ve been better for Richardson. Starting with low red zone work (starting at the opponent’s 10-yard line) with the second unit, Richardson’s woes were apparent. Running back rushes were thwarted and the passing game was nonexistent. With the starting in high red zone play (opponent’s 30-yard line), however, Richardson found success. He connected with AD Mitchell and Jonathan Taylor on quick out-breakers, Taylor rushed one in for the score, and after missing him earlier in the session, Richardson found Michael Pittman Jr. on a crosser for a touchdown to finish.
Switching back for his last run with the second unit on the day (drive from own 20), Richardson was all-time bad. This is also around the same time the aforementioned offensive line woes hit a crescendo, but the quarterback play alone was near unacceptable. There was no rhythm due to numerous false starts (again, might be due to Richardson’s cadence), Mose Vavao’s erratic snaps jumpstarted plays in a bad way, and Richardson was as off-target as it gets. His worst play of the day came during this period — his lone interception thrown — a wildly off-target deep shot to Anthony Gould. All in all, just a perfect example of how an NFL offense should not look.
When it comes to the last team period of the day, an 11-on-11 2-minute drill situation, Anthony Richardson was a different man entirely. Other than a couple of missed layups at the end, Richardson and Co. put on a seamless showing to ‘win the game.’ Richardson kicked off the session through the air with a quick hitch to Anthony Gould. After quickly hurrying to the line, Richardson would climb the pocket post-snap to find Michael Pittman Jr. in stride for a nice chunk gain. On the play following, Richardson roped one into Tyler Warren up the seam for the body-contorting grab. The next play could’ve easily been the punctuation of an otherwise perfect drive, but after Richardson created an opportunity for the easy layup, a botched flick to an open AD Mitchell in the back of the end zone halted that quickly established momentum. Richardson would overthrow a crossing Ashton Dulin to follow up, but it was Jonathan Taylor who ran it in for the short rushing touchdown and ultimately saved the drive altogether. As a cherry on top, Richardson found Michael Pittman Jr. for an easy 2-point conversion.
As for Daniel Jones, he nearly had the most Daniel Jones day possible. It began in 1-on-1s with perhaps the most predictable outcome of the day. Jones mainly lived underneath on short, quick-hitting routes to the usual suspects like Michael Pittman Jr. and Josh Downs. His only success on intermediate-deep routes came when throwing AD Mitchell’s way. Mitchell completely lost the defender on a comeback route, and Jones hit him on the money out of his break. Their second connection was the flashiest, as a 50-50 ball near the sideline and end zone ended up in Mitchell’s hands.
I could very easily chronicle Jones’ entire team play on the day like I did Richardson, but with the opposite amount of volatility to cover, a summary ought to do the trick. For starters, and as alluded to, both quarterbacks more or less performed like we had grown to expect as left last season. Similar to Richardson today, Jones was the exact quarterback he’s been through six years in the NFL.
Efficiency-wise, Jones was the guy. Explosives-wise, not so much. Jones was strong in the short passing game, even near automatic at times, that is, unless pressure was involved. Aside from two overthrows in the flats to kick off team play, Jones was rhythmic on quick-hitters. Whenever any semblance of pass rush was evident, however, Jones quickly broke down, and inaccuracy followed. He was likely sacked upwards of four to five times throughout 11-on-11 play, and while a couple of those can be attributed to broken down pass protection, the sped-up process of Jones equally, if not more, played a factor in those would-be sacks.
Jones also had trouble pushing the ball down the field as a result. His only success found in this area across all team periods came on two separate intermediate connections to Michael Pittman Jr. and AD Mitchell, as well as a 50-50 ball to Mitchell that netted a defensive pass interference call. The bad wasn’t solely on Jones, though, as two big drops from Jonathan Taylor and AD Mitchell marred an otherwise efficient session through the air. These two mishaps followed the biggest drop of Jones’ day, a dropped touchdown from Anthony Gould to end red zone play. The Mitchell drop came on a deep in-breaker that Mitchell bobbled, dropped, and ended up in the hands of the defender for the walk-in pick six. On the very next play, the recently mentioned intermediate find, Mitchell fumbled to put a blemish on what he’d established as a breakout training camp.
A Daniel Jones blunder ended the Colts’ day offensively. In his 2-minute drill with the second unit, all was going well. Jones and Co. were firing on all cylinders as three quick-hitting routes in the short passing game set up the offense near the opponent’s 35-yard line. It was 1st and 10 with plenty of time and room to work with. The offense had established a momentum, and then the pass rush came. Daniel Jones grew noticeably rattled as the pocket slowly but surely closed in, forcing him to make a decision quickly. What ensued was arguably the worst of the worst when it comes to Jones as an NFL quarterback. His process was sped up to the point of no return, and although a sack would’ve been the result in a live game and thus saved the drive, instead Jones continued out the play as if he evaded the pressure altogether and quite literally handed the game away. He threw up a prayer in the form of a short pass in the middle of the field, and a Packers defender graciously answered it to end the drive.
If anything, Jones may have actually ‘won’ the day when you consider his efficiency overall, but as it stands, for the best long-term option, it’s hard to see how Jones moves the needle. The efficiency disparity between Richardson and Jones is real, but to what extent do the subsequent limitations have when factoring in the longevity of this offense? It’s nearly impossible to accurately assess how a quarterback’s rushing prowess will be considered once the regular season, but even then, the floor and ceiling of each in this area have been established. If I had to guess, I’d say Anthony Richardson is named the Week 1 starter, that is, unless a historic collapse happens between now and then.
So if we haven’t learned anything new about these two quarterbacks and Richardson is named the starter, then what was the point of the Daniel Jones signing? It’s twofold: motivation and injury insurance. The biggest things that Anthony Richardson needed to work on this offseason, outside of honing in on his mechanics to improve his consistency as a passer, were his mindset and approach. His durability concerns a separate uphill battle entirely, such allegations that only time will tell he’s guilty of, but bringing Jones in may have been exactly what Richardson needed. That’s not at all to suggest that it’s worked flawlessly and now Richardson is poised for a breakout because of it, but this does feel the most appropriate last-case scenario. Regardless of whether this season nets an immediate reward, Richardson’s albeit marginal improvements (footwork, decisiveness, mindset) are at least a stepping stone that was previously deemed unachievable. The Chris Ballard-maned ship may finally sink, but at least now this regime can say they did what they could to right it.
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