WESTFIELD, Ind. – The Colts held their 13th and final training camp practice at Grand Park on Thursday, bringing to a close this chapter of their competition between Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson Sr.
The book, however, does not have an ending yet.
"We'll work through that," head coach Shane Steichen said of a decision on the Colts' Week 1 starting quarterback. "We had today, we got a preseason game (Saturday), we have some practices next week and we'll work through that. I don't have an exact timetable on it, but sooner rather than later would be nice."
Jones and Richardson, by the end of this weekend, should have roughly even reps between those 13 practices, a joint practice with the Baltimore Ravens and games against the Ravens and Green Bay Packers. The Colts will have practices next week at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center before heading to Cincinnati to close out preseason play against the Bengals on Aug. 23.
As of Thursday evening, the Colts' quarterback competition remains too close to call. Steichen said he doesn't have a clear leader in his mind right now but emphasized the importance of the Colts' second preseason game this weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium.
"I want to see how this thing plays out on Saturday and we'll see early into next week and see where it goes," Steichen said.
Richardson, throughout training camp, looked more comfortable connecting on short and intermediate throws from the pocket – an area of his game that needed improvement after he completed just 47.7 percent of his passes in 2024.
Richardson was asked Thursday if he feels like this has been the best training camp of his three-year career.
"I would like to agree, I would like to say I've improved from my first two camps. But there's still a lot of room for improvement," Richardson said. "I feel like I'm nowhere near where I want to be. Yeah, I've been better throughout this camp but there's still things I need to work on, still things I need to clean up and I still got to be a better quarterback for this team. So, yes I've improved, but there's still work to be done."
Jones efficiently completed those shorter and intermediate throws, too, and coaches were pleased with how and when he aggressively pushed the ball downfield – an area of his game he, for various reasons, didn't tap into with the New York Giants.
For Jones, who signed as a free agent in March, training camp was about learning the nuances of the Colts' offense – in which Richardson has played for the last two years – and developing chemistry with his new team's pass catchers.
"I think I've improved day to day," Jones said. "I've made progress kind of learning the system and executing. There's always things you're working on and trying to clean up. That's where my mindset is."
Both quarterbacks, too, have had to train their focus away from thinking too much about when Steichen will call them into his office to inform them who will be the Colts' Week 1 starting quarterback.
"I think that's natural," Jones said. "I think in this position, you're obviously aware of it and thinking about it, but I think the best strategy for me and anyone in this situation is to focus as much as you can on what you need to do to continue to grow and improve."
"I'm just trying to do my job, do everything I can to help myself win this job, and then anything the team needs from me I'm pretty much open and available to help them out in any sort of way," Richardson said. "Just trying to do my part and let everybody else make the decision."
Eventually, Steichen will huddle with Owner and CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon and general manager Chris Ballard to talk through which quarterback will be the Colts' starter; the final QB1 decision will be Steichen's. It's a decision that will be made when the time is right, though the Colts are only two and a half weeks away from their first game week of the 2025 season.
At some point, the Colts will need to make the call. That time hasn't come yet. But it might be coming quickly, especially as the Colts pack up to leave Grand Park and return to the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center.
"Obviously, it's a big decision that's gotta be made," Steichen said. "We'll work through it and I'll have discussions with Carlie and Chris and we'll work through it here soon."
