There’s no quarterback change coming in Indianapolis. Not this week, at least.
Colts head coach Shane Steichen told reporters Monday that Joe Flacco will remain the starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.
Flacco has started two consecutive games since the Colts benched struggling second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson. He turned the ball over twice and failed to throw a touchdown in a 21-13 loss to the Vikings in Week 9. On Sunday, Flacco threw three interceptions and lost a fumble in a 30-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
His struggles have prompted calls from some to switch back to Richardson at quarterback. For now, Flacco will remain the starter.
Should the Colts move back to Richardson?
The Colts benched Richardson because of his struggles a year after his rookie campaign was limited to four games due to injury. The No. 4 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Richardson regressed in six starts this season.
In 2024, Richardson’s completed 44.4% of his passes for 159.7 yards per game with four touchdowns and seven interceptions. His performance has not been commensurate with that of an NFL backup, much less a starter.
Richardson’s struggles have sparked a debate: Is he better off learning and developing from the bench or does he need reps as the Colts’ starter to improve? The Colts initially opted for the latter strategy and threw Richardson into the fire in Week 1 of his rookie season despite his arrival to the NFL as a raw prospect.
Richardson joined the Colts with accuracy concerns and a single season of starting experience at Florida. Those concerns played out on the field over the course of 10 NFL starts before Steichen opted to bench Richardson in Week 9 in favor of Flacco.
If the Colts believe now that Richardson is better off learning from the bench, then nothing about Flacco’s struggles on the field have changed that.
Steichen was asked about Richardson’s development in his news conference Monday. He declined to go into specifics about where things stand with the franchise’s presumed quarterback of the future.
“You’ve gotta go through the process every single day,” Steichen said. “And that’s where it’s at. He’s a great person, phenomenal human being. Like I said, not ever losing faith or trust in him. We’re going through a process right now, and that’s where it’s at.”
With Richardson not in a place where the Colts are confident in starting him, the Colts are in a bind. Flacco, a 39-year-old, 17-season NFL veteran, is certainly not the quarterback of the future. And his last two games suggest that he shouldn’t be their starter now. And at 4-6, the Colts are running out of time to turn their season around.
Steichen explained his decision to stick with Flacco on Monday.
“Joe’s a veteran guy, like I said,” Steichen said. “He’s had two games that he’d want back. But again, he goes out there, throws some good passes. Obviously, the interceptions, there’s three of those. There’s two that he’d want back.
“Again, you stick with it, you grind through it. The process of this whole thing, it really is a process. We’re going through that process right now. Right now, Joe’s still our guy.”
There is opportunity for the Colts on their remaining schedule. They’ll play the 8-1 Lions in Week 12. But there’s not another team with a winning record on their schedule that includes games against the Jets, Patriots, Broncos, Titans, Giants and Jaguars.
And the level of competition won’t matter much if the Colts don’t produce reliable quarterback play.
