What Colts' Shane Steichen said about the backup QB battle

WESTFIELD – The Colts have completed their three-plus-week training camp but head coach Shane Steichen told reporters Thursday that the backup quarterback battle – the most closely-followed battles this summer – between second-year QB Riley Leonard and former first-round pick Anthony Richardson Sr. remains an ongoing competition that will bleed into the team’s final two preseason games.

“Yeah, I don’t have a timetable on that,” Steichen said when asked Thursday when a winner would be decided. “I’m going to let that thing play out. Like I said, we’ve got two more weeks. We’ve got this preseason game. We’ve got practice (next week at the team facility), all that stuff and then we’ll see where it goes.”

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The Colts have done their best to give both Richardson and Leonard the same numbers of reps and rounds in situational action and run with the second and third-team offensive units. Generally speaking, Richardson has been a little flashier in his highest moments, displaying speed and versatility with his legs that Leonard, the more prototypical passer, doesn’t have. But the fourth-overall pick from 2023 has also battled issues of bobbled snaps and wayward throws that, on some days, made it difficult for Richardson to find a rhythm.

Leonard, on the other hand, has battled reoccurring issues holding onto the ball too long and being swallowed up in the pocket or scrambling to get rid of it when the situation might not have required it. The second-year quarterback wasn’t his sharpest – notably while commanding a third-team unit that will largely not make the 53-man roster – during the Colts’ preseason kickoff last Thursday in New England, while Richardson was more explosive, commanding an offense that moved the ball sparked by plays with his arm and his legs.

He also made a couple of the worst plays from either of them in the game, tossing a pass high that Coleman Owen bobbled and was eventually intercepted, and Richardson squarely missed his first throw of the game by a wide margin. He also fumbled at the end of a lengthy run – the type of costly gaffe the Colts can’t afford if they ever are forced to lean on a backup QB.

On Thursday, Richardson was ineffective during a single 11-on-11 series in the red zone, finishing 0-for-2, but he made up for it completing four chunk plays down the field in an end-of-practice two-minute drill that led to a 52-yard made field goal from Spencer Shrader.

Leonard was 3-for-3 in 11-on-11 action Thursday – all three of those completions touchdowns in the red zone – and was 3-for-4 in a 7-on-7 period that included a back-corner fade touchdown pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.

On Wednesday during Day 1 of joint practice action with the Falcons where their roles were flipped – Leonard took more snaps and ran the two-minute drill at the end – the former sixth-round pick finished 8-for-11 but only managed short completions during the pressure-packed session. Richardson finished a perfect 3-for-3 including a pair of first-down strikes to Westbrook-Ikhine and tight end Will Mallory.

On Saturday in preseason game No. 2 against the Falcons, Leonard will lead the second-team offense for the first half, with Richardson swapping roles to lead the third team to end the game. Steichen has referenced that some starters will get time in the team’s final preseason game Aug. 29 against the Lions, but the head coach has downplayed the prospect of Colts starting quarterback Daniel Jones seeing the field in the preseason – meaning Richardson and Leonard are likely to both get ample time again to help decide the battle.

“I thought they both had a good camp,” Steichen said of Richardson and Leonard. “I mean, there were some ups and downs, but I think you saw flashes of both of them, which was really exciting.

“I was really pleased with Anthony in that two-minute drive right there (Thursday) to go down and kick that field goal. I thought he operated the two-minute drill perfectly.”

Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Coltsall season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What Colts’ Shane Steichen said about the backup QB battle

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