1. What went wrong on the sack that ended Anthony Richardson's night.

With 7:33 left in the first quarter, Anthony Richardson dropped back to pass and focused his eyes to the left side of the field at M&T Bank Stadium, where wide receivers Anthony Gould and Adonai Mitchell were getting into their routes.

Richardson never saw Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker David Ojabo, who came unblocked off the right edge and thumped Richardson in the pocket, bringing him to the ground for a sack. Richardson dislocated the pinkie finger on his right (throwing) hand and went to the sidelines; after testing a few throws, his day was done.

While the Colts had three backups playing on their offensive line – left tackle Blake Freeland, left guard Dalton Tucker and right tackle Jalen Travis – the lack of starting offensive linemen was not why Richardson took the sack.

"That's a tricky one because it's a five-man pro and hot from the backside," Richardson said. "I just gotta get my eyes and be able to react to that. Five man, you're always playing hot, I gotta be on my P's and Q's."

The Colts were in a five-man protection, meaning all five pass-catchers (in this case, three wide receivers, a tight end and a running back) all got out into the passing pattern. Neither running back D.J. Giddens nor tight end Tyler Warren was tasked with blocking on the play.

The Colts' protection slid to the left – Richardson said he thought the Ravens might send a blitz with their slot cornerback, who was lined up on that side of the field – but at the snap, outside linebacker Mike Green dropped into coverage. As Richardson kept his eyes to the left, linebacker Trenton Simpson blitzed from depth, leaving Travis to either block him or Ojabo – and meaning, no matter what, one of those two defenders was going to have a free run at Richardson.

Both Giddens (behind the line of scrimmage) and wide receiver Ashton Dulin (about three yards beyond the line of scrimmage) were open at the near-side numbers once the Ravens sent this simulated pressure (four pass rushers, but not from obvious locations) look.

If more than two defenders rushed Richardson from his right, Travis was responsible for one (Simpson) and Richardson was responsible for throwing hot to neutralize the other (Ojabo).

"It's a five-man protection right there and that's the hot side right there," Steichen said. "That's what happened."

Richardson, after the game, took responsibility for not seeing Ojabo and taking the sack that ended his night.

"It was going to be hard for me to see anyway because my eyes are looking a certain way," Richardson said. "But I just gotta be keyed on when they're bringing pressures like that. I thought it was about to be a nickel (blitz), but they brought it from the other side. I gotta be ready to get the ball back out."

2. Daniel Jones completed 10 of 21 passes, but there is some context here.

Not every incomplete pass is equal, and there were a handful of Jones' 11 incompletions that weren't as bad as his final stat line may indicate. He had three passes dropped – wide receiver Anthony Gould was charged with two, and running back D.J. Giddens couldn't haul in a throw up and away from his body – and three passes fell incomplete while wide receivers Ashton Dulin and Adonai Mitchell were trying to fight through plenty of contact from Baltimore's defensive backs.

After Jones settled into the game, there were a handful of standout throws from the veteran quarterback:

• 4:36 first quarter: On his first pass attempt of the game, Jones kept his feet calm in the pocket as safety Malaki Starks blitzed and engaged with Giddens, with the Ravens' first-round pick getting a hand in Jones' face. Jones, though, delivered an on-time, cross-field throw from the far hash to outside the numbers, connecting with tight end Tyler Warren for a first down just before cornerback T.J. Tampa closed on the route.
• 8:26 second quarter: Jones, with pressure from defensive tackle C.J. Okoye in his face, stood in the pocket and ripped a deep ball to wide receiver Adonai Mitchell down the sideline. While Mitchell wasn't able to haul in a difficult catch (with a little contact from the cornerback on him), that Jones was willing to hang in to make that aggressive throw downfield was a positive – especially for a guy who's trying to shake the reputation, fair or not, that he wasn't aggressive while the New York Giants' starting quarterback.
• 5:29 second quarter: Jones felt pressure and escaped the pocket to his left, and while keeping his eyes downfield, he contorted his body to float a completion to wide receiver Ashton Dulin, who worked into space at the numbers. The completion gained 25 yards; it might've been safer to throw the ball away, but that would've brought up a difficult third-and-7. Again, Jones showed an aggressive streak here.
• 4:15 second quarter: This was a pretty throw by Jones and catch by tight end Will Mallory, who kept both feet in bounds to snag Jones' pass along the near sideline for a 15-yard gain. Mallory threw his hand up shortly after the snap, but Jones was under pressure as soon as he started dropping back, and he had to buy enough – and have enough arm strength – to float this pass toward the sideline.

"I thought he did some really good things," Steichen said. "Obviously had a nice touchdown pass that got called back (for offensive pass interference), but made some good scramble plays, had some good throws, had some chunk plays."

3. What Anthony Richardson did in limited action.

Richardson played just seven snaps before he dislocated his right pinkie, which led to an early end to a night that was supposed to be an extended opportunity for the third-year quarterback.

Before that, though, Richardson completed two of three passes for 21 yards. His first completion came on a first-and-10 near midfield on a sideline comeback to Mitchell; impressive here was Richardson's ability to even get the throw off. In a rapidly-deteriorating pocket, Richardson stayed calm; as he released his throw, left tackle Blake Freeland's back foot was in between Richardson's two feet.

Richardson's second completion was on an in-rhythm throw to Warren, who found a soft spot near the far hash and made a nice snag on a pass away from his body.

"I felt good, honestly," Richardson said. "I just felt like I was so relaxed, and in the moment that really felt good. It was good being out there with the guys, but unfortunately, I freaking got sacked and dislocated my finger, but it just felt good being out there with the guys. I was having fun."

We'll find out in the next few days if Richardson's injury will alter the Colts' initial plan to have Jones start and play the first quarter and a half against the Green Bay Packers next weekend.

4. Tyler Warren impressed with and without the ball in his hands.

Warren caught all three of his targets for 40 yards, and he had a seven-yard gain on a screen called back for a penalty on center Tanor Bortolini. A few observations on those plays:

• Catch No. 1 (screen, called back for penalty): Warren accelerates upfield after catching the screen and lowered his shoulder as he initiated contact with linebacker Trenton Simpson. Simpson got credit for the tackle, but he hit the ground before Warren.
• Catch No. 2 (6-yard gain): After opening up his hips to the near sideline, Warren shows the natural feel for space we've consistently seen in training camp and plucks a Richardson pass out of the air away from his body, then secures the ball through immediate contact from safety Malaki Starks.
• Catch No. 3 (11-yard gain): Warren runs vertically to the first-down marker and breaks outside toward the numbers. He's at about the 48-yard line when Jones releases the pass targeting him; he feels cornerback T.J. Tampa falling off both wide receivers running downfield and works his route back toward the ball, catching it at about the 46-yard line. Had he not taken that angle and rounded his route off, he would've had to make a contested catch at best; at worst, Tampa might've had a chance to make a play on the ball. Those little details matter quite a bit within an NFL passing offense.
• Catch No. 4 (23-yard gain): Both linebackers bite on play action and Warren accelerates behind them into open space, catching Jones' pass in stride at the 37-yard line. He immediately turns upfield and begins working off a block by Mitchell, turning toward safety Sanoussi Kane, lowering his shoulder and falling forward through the tackle for a couple extra yards.

What the Colts saw from Warren in the passing game on Thursday was exactly what they've seen from the Penn State product since he arrived in Indianapolis in May.

"He's, pretty much from Day 1, showed up and made a lot of plays for us," Jones said. "Just got a great feel for the game, for space, for getting open and tonight's the first night we saw him in pads and he has a tendency to fall forward and gain a few more yards than you think. He's a good football player. I know he's working hard to improve but he's been great since he's been here."

Warren, too, had some physical scraps with Ravens defenders as a run blocker and in pass protection. He blocked down on outside linebackers a few times, coming across the formation at the snap; late in the first quarter, he physically picked up Simpson on a blitz, giving Jones a clean pocket from which he could rip a completion to Dulin.

"I thought it was good to be out there, do it live in a real NFL game setting," Warren said. "I thought we were flowing pretty well on offense, and I thought it was a good start to learn and grow from."

5. Two rookies had productive days on defense.

Most of the Colts' defensive starters did not play, save for defensive ends Kwity Paye and Laiatu Latu, who played two snaps apiece on Baltimore's first offensive drive of the game.

Two rookie draft picks saw significant playing time, then: Safety Hunter Wohler (34 snaps) and defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau (33 snaps).

Wohler led the Colts with seven tackles, showing the sort of physicality he's put on display throughout training camp while working at safety and dime linebacker.

Tuimoloau stuffed the stat sheet with a strip sack, two quarterback hits, two tackles for a loss and a pass batted down. His sack came when he lined up as a 3-technique (defensive tackle) and looped around defensive tackle Adetomiwa Adebawore to his right; having the ability to have success when kicking inside on passing downs would likely help Tuimoloau's case to get on the field more as a rookie.

Tuimoloau, though, did leave the game with a knee injury in the second half and did not return.