Since selecting Anthony Richardson at No. 4 overall in this year’s draft, the Colts have consistently maintained that the quarterback will need to play sooner than later to further his development.
When will that be? It’s still unclear.
But General Manager Chris Ballard said on Tuesday that the coaching staff will make that determination.
“That’s discussions that Mr. [Jim] Irsay, Shane [Steichen], the coaching staff — all of us will have,” Ballard said in his press conference. “You don’t want to put him out there and he’s not ready to handle everything that requires playing the position. I’ll lean heavily on our coaching staff — on what they think and what they think he can handle and what he’s ready for. Then eventually he’ll play.
“But until he’s ready, we’ll make that determination and if the coaching staff thinks he’s ready to go, then we’ll play him.”
Ballard added that like any player, Richardson does need reps.
“The more live-bullet reps — like we can go through camp and get every rep we can, but until you’re in a game and you’re actually getting those live-bullet reps, it’s hard to really grow and get better,” Ballard said. “They have to be ready to handle — because there is going to be some successes, but there is going to be some failure too along the way.
“You want them to be ready to be able to handle enough of the offense where we can give him enough tools to where they can perform and have success. You want to be able to set him up to have some success early — not just all downhill.”
To that end, Ballard said he’s convinced that Richardson is wired to handle the inevitable ups and downs that come with being an NFL quarterback.
“Look, he is very even-keeled,” Ballard said. “He’s very stable in that he doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low. Now, until you get into the fire, you don’t really know. Look, the pressure on that position — we all know, especially when you draft one high, he’s automatically stamped as the automatic savior before he’s even played a down. Him and I have had long talks about being able to handle the highs and lows of the position because you have to.
“You all know how it is. Even the established ones that will have down moments — all of a sudden the world says they’re done. It’s a week-to-week league. That’s just what our league is. So, how you perform from week to week is pretty much what people are going to write and you’ve got to be able to handle that. You’ve got to be able to handle the good and the bad, and take both in stride.”
So, Richardson will start training camp coming off a solid offseason program. And Ballard believes the rookie has done the necessary work and is in good hands with Steichen, offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, and QBs coach Cam Turner.