Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson suffered a dislocated pinky on his eighth offensive snap in Thursday night’s preseason matchup with the Ravens.
Baltimore’s David Ojabo came unblocked from the offense’s right, placing a devastating hit on Richardson as the quarterback never saw him coming.
So what happened on the play?
“That’s a five-man protection right there, and that’s the hot side right there,” head coach Shane Steichen said in his postgame press conference. “That’s what happened.”
Effectively, Steichen means Richardson was responsible for recognizing the unblocked edge defender and getting the ball out quickly. Richardson had a running back available on his right side, but the QB admitted after the game he didn’t properly diagnose the play.
“I definitely looked at it. That’s a tricky one because it’s five-man pro and hot from the backside,” Richardson said postgame, via transcript from the team. “I’ve just got to get my eyes to be able to react to that. It was just five-man pro playing hot. I need to be on my Ps and Qs when it comes to that.
“It was going to be hard for me to see anyway,” Richardson added. “My eyes are looking a certain way, but I just have to be keyed on when anybody brings pressure like that. I thought it would be the nickel, but they brought it from the other side. I just have to be ready to get the ball out.”
Identifying protections is one of the elements of his game that Richardson must improve as he enters his third season — particularly as it’s now another reason that he may miss time due to injury while competing with Daniel Jones.
