Anthony Richardson was a limited participant in the Colts' Thursday practice in Week 16, marking the first time the quarterback has participated in practice since Week 6.
The quarterback sustained a fractured orbital bone in a freak accident during pregame warmups prior to the Colts' Week 6 game against the Arizona Cardinals and was placed on injured reserve the next day. Now that he has been medically cleared to return to physical activity, the Colts have opened his 21-day practice window to be activated from injured reserve.
Richardson still has some vision limitations in his right eye, head coach Shane Steichen said, but the next step in his recovery was to get back out on the practice field.
"We're going to get him back on the practice field, get him throwing, doing some scout team reps," Steichen said. "It's just something he's going to have to manage through the process."
'I thank God for it," Richardson said Thursday. "Sitting at home, it's not fun, it's really boring. Not being in the building as much when it first happened, really boring. Not being around my teammates, not being able to go to the stadium and all that was really boring. But I thank God for being able to go out there and practice today and I'm looking forward to it.
As with all quarterbacks during practice periods, Richardson was wearing a red non-contact jersey – but he said he has no real concerns about taking hits or any type of contact to his face.
"Before the surgery, (the doctor) told me he wasn't worried about it," Richardson said. "And every time he checked me it was healed up nice, so they're not worried about any contact stuff."
Richardson said he feels back to normal, able to see and drive and move around normally. He sustained a significant amount of swelling around the eye after the injury occurred, he said, but everything has healed up nicely since his surgery.
"There's not really major limitations," Richardson said when asked about his vision limitations. "It's just a little different because of the impact that happened to my eye. But most of it's really the same. I'm still able to move around the same, do everything I need to do. So it's not that bad."
Richardson can be activated from injured reserve at any point over the next three weeks, but he said he's not necessarily thinking about the possibly of playing this season; he's taking things day-by-day and just getting back to his normal routine.
"I got to take it one day at a time, see how I feel out there on the field, see how I move around in the pocket and just do whatever they need me to do," he said. "Originally they told me I was going to have to wait until after the season to see how my eye healed up, and luckily I got cleared this month. I just thank God for it and I'm ready to practice."
The Colts have three quarterbacks currently on their active roster in Philip Rivers, Riley Leonard and Brett Rypien; Steichen said Rivers will remain the team's starting quarterback and that Richardson will not be available for Monday night's game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Richardson said he already had a prior relationship with Rivers, as the two connected during the 2024 season to talk ball, and has been able to already learn some things from the 44-year-old veteran.
"He's a pro, he handles business," Richardson said. "He knows how to ask the right questions to get information that'll help him out on the field, so I take that from him...I know him a little bit and he's a great guy."
"I got to meet him and know him a little bit in years past," Rivers said. "He's been great in all the meetings and everything, obviously he's dealt with some unfortunate injuries and as a real young player he's the perfect example of one day at a time and just sticking with it. He's got a lot of football ahead of him."
