Joe Flacco will be Colts’ starting QB ‘going forward,’ says Shane Steichen

The Indianapolis Colts have determined to return to Joe Flacco because the group’s beginning quarterback, head coach Shane Steichen confirmed on Wednesday.

“I am simply trying the place we’re at as a soccer group, sitting at .500 with plenty of soccer left, and really feel that Joe provides us the very best probability going ahead,” mentioned Steichen, who added this isn’t “a one-week change.”

Anthony Richardson, the No. 4 general choose within the 2023 NFL draft and the starter heading into this season, will likely be relegated to backup responsibility.

“Not giving up on Anthony by any means,” Steichen mentioned. “He is a extremely younger participant with a ton of expertise.”

On Monday, following the Colts’ 23-20 loss to the Houston Texans, Steichen would not decide to sticking with Richardson on the group’s starter, saying they had been “evaluating” their choices for the Week 9 matchup towards the Minnesota Vikings.

Richardson was 10-for-32 in passing for 175 yards and one landing and one interception towards Houston. He defined that his transient absence within the third quarter was resulting from him being “drained.”

Ten video games into his NFL profession, Richardson has proven little signal of improvement. In actual fact, he is regressed. Richardson’s rookie marketing campaign was restricted to 4 video games resulting from a number of accidents. However he flashed his upside whereas averaging 5.4 yards per carry and 11.5 yards per completion. His 59.5% completion share left room for enchancment.

In six video games as a starter this season, Richardson has taken a step again, and the considerations that adopted him from Florida have solely been exacerbated. The deep balls are there. Richardson leads the league with 16.2 yards per completion and has thrown a number of highlight-reel landing passes. However his 44.4% completion share is not commensurate with that of an NFL backup, a lot much less a starter. Neither is his 4-to-7 landing to interception ratio.

After a resurgent season in Cleveland in 2023, Flacco joined the Colts to again up Richardson this season. He is began three video games, main the group to 2 wins. He has a 65.7% passing completion share and has thrown seven touchdowns and just one interception whereas averaging 179 passing yards a sport.