When Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen was asked if the locker room was united in the decision to bench the quarterback Anthony RichardsonHe couldn’t give an answer.

“I can’t speak for our team,” Steichen said.

Luckily, many of Richardson’s teammates were asked about their feelings on his benching and transition to veteran. Joe Flacco as a start. Here are comments from various Colts players throughout the week and what the main takeaways should be.

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QB Joe Flacco – “I know that when I was that young, I didn’t have a chance to have the right perspective and the right head on my shoulders to handle this situation the right way. But now, this is my 17th day. I have that perspective every year. So if I can give him a fair deal of these If you can give any, it doesn’t have to be a lot of positive things that can come from his side.

“Like I said, he’s very young and has a bright future, and there’s a lot of players that come into this league and don’t play right away. I know it’s a little bit different because it feels like you’re getting better.” And like I said, if I was as young as him, there’s no chance I’d get it right right away. I mean, there’s a bunch of guys in the league that didn’t play right when they came into the league, they kind of got second or third chances as they matured and got a little bit older.

“I think there’s a lot of advantages to being able to distance yourself a little bit and watch and learn and do those things from afar. I think that’s probably part of the job, I don’t speak for the Colts and Shane, but I think at least part of the thought process is to try to help him.”

R.B. Jonathan Taylor – “Of course I was surprised, but I just realized that this is hard work and there will be a lot of adversity. Everyone, every single individual, is going to face challenges, but at the end of the day, . . . Let him know: ‘Listen, you have to stay the course. You have to be able to change your routine when necessary, but You have to come in every day and continue to be professional every week.” This will take you very far in this business.”

W.R. Michael Pittman Jr. – “Obviously it was a bit of a shock. It caught me off guard. The good and the bad thing about football is that there’s opportunity for everyone and I don’t think that’s going to end. I think he’ll come back better from this. The way he’s reacted to things, I think he’s going in the right direction. He got here early.” “And he was doing everything he was doing before he heard this news. It’s just a testament to who he is, and he’s going to keep working at it, even though it’s hard.”

W.R. Josh Downs – “Yes, of course I was a little surprised. I… I don’t know. They made that decision, so you have to trust the coaches. But yeah, I felt bad about 5. … At the end of the day, Joe is like 40 years old. So I can say he has many years left. AR is 22 or 23. He’s still No. 4 overall and will learn from that and get better. So I know it will start again.”

W.R. Alec Pierce – “He’s 22 years old. I think he’s going to be in the league for a long time. He’s going to have a long career. Take this as a chance to sit back and learn from some things, give him some time off. He’s slowing down a little bit. Obviously it’s frustrating, but I think he understands that it’s part of his journey and he’s finally getting it.” “It will make it better.”

g Quenton Nelson – “And I still am (batting for Richardson). It’s like a crazy situation and I still have faith in AR and I know he’ll do well when he gets the next opportunity. I still think he’s there. There were a lot of good things he did when he was playing. Avoiding pressure and “He did a great job avoiding sacks, and he had some good throws… Yeah, I was surprised.”

C. ryan kelly – “I was a little surprised. Shane let me know, so I respect him for doing that. It was a nice courtesy call, I guess. But it’s always difficult to make a change like that in the season. … I think AR handled it as well as possible.”

CE DeForest Buckner – “Obviously, it’s difficult when it comes to situations like this. Frankly, there’s a lot of thought and discussion on this issue. … I let AR know that despite the situation, the guys always had his back and we had our back too. I’m always there for him. “I said you have to use this moment as a growth experience, continue to improve as a quarterback and a leader, and also don’t let this moment define him as a player.”

LB Zaire Franklin – “So the reality of the situation is – unfortunately this is part of his journey, part of his process. You know, I called him and talked to him yesterday when the news broke and everything, and obviously I know he’s very upset about it, but he’s a professional and a great teammate. So I know he will still do everything he can to help his team win.

“I still believe he’s the future of this team. I know it sounds crazy to everyone right now, but I still believe with all my heart that he’s the future of the Indianapolis Colts. It’s tough. I can’t say he is like that.” We’ve completely lost the dressing room, so look, he’s a young player who made mistakes and we know we have to grow with him.

“So the things that he was struggling with or trying to work on at the time were things that we all understood, especially on the defensive side of the ball. So I would never say it was a loss of confidence because we understood it was a loss of confidence. The ups and downs of everything as he took on the role of being the face of the franchise.” will be.”

C.B. Kenny Moore II – “Stay resilient. When I found out about everything through the media, I texted AR. I told him I have his back. I fully support him. When you get the opportunity again, make the most of it.”

takeaway

The universal reaction in the locker room when they heard the news was shock. It still seems strange that there was no announcement to the team about the change and most of them found out through social media. Regardless, it wasn’t long before players heard that Richardson was benched.

If Richardson is lost on the Colts’ locker room, his teammates are doing a great job of hiding it. All of his teammates who spoke publicly about the issue stated that they still support Richardson and believe this is not the end of the road. Franklin was particularly confident that Richardson would remain Indy’s starting point guard position going forward.

The two players who looked most disappointed were Downs and Nelson. Downs has become incredibly close with Richardson since he was drafted in the spring of 2023. Nelson repeatedly batted for his quarterback and became one of Richardson’s staunchest supporters. Both will continue to support Richardson as he takes on this new role.

While Flacco is the quarterback leading this team right now, Richardson aiming to be the Colts’ quarterback for years to come is still the ideal ending to this entire saga. His teammates are certainly not giving up on what the young point guard could be. Let’s see if this belief will become reality.

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