WESTFIELD, Ind. – With temperatures in the upper 60's, floodlights illuminating the green grass at Grand Park and the stands packed with fans, Thursday night's training camp practice took place in a downright idyllic setting.

The Colts, with a backdrop that screamed "football is back," then scrimmaged with each other deep into the last night of July.

Making things even better was the play on the field, starting with quarterbacks Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson. Both quarterbacks, in their competition to win the Colts' Week 1 starting job, have now turned in three consecutive strong days of practice at Grand Park – with all three days coming in pads.

"You want to see growth from Day 1 to whatever day we're at now," head coach Shane Steichen said. "Both have been doing a really good job, it's been both of them that've made plays at a high level the last couple days, and that's what you want to see. You want to see growth, you want to see completions, you want to see the offense moving up and down the field."

Whether it was Jones or Richardson, and whether it was the first- or second-team offense, the Colts were able to move the ball both efficiently and explosively in Thursday's practice. A rundown of the most notable moments from practice – of which there were many:

With the first-team offense to start practice (both QBs have alternated days who starts practice with the first team, but they've been getting equal reps with the first-team offense throughout a practice), Jones picked out wide receivers Josh Downs and Michael Pittman Jr., and also running back Jonathan Taylor.

With the second-team offense, then, Richardson layered an intermediate sideline throw to tight end Drew Ogletree, who couldn't haul it in, but Richardson zipped an in-rhythm throw to wide receiver Ashton Dulin on his next dropback and later connected with the speedy Dulin for a catch-and-run chunk gain.

Jones was next up with the first-team offense, and after cornerback Justin Walley broke up a pass, Jones found Downs for a quick completion. This set of a plays, though, was highlighted by defensive end Laiatu Latu getting his first of two "sacks" of the night; Jones later connected with tight end Tyler Warren over the middle after the rookie worked open into space.

Richardson followed that with an in-rhythm quick completion to wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, and later in his set of plays he hit a picturesque pump-and-go throw deep to Dulin, who hauled it in for a touchdown.

Jones' final set of plays with the first-team offense came with the highlight of practice: An over-the-middle pass Warren leapt in the air for and tipped to himself, with the tight end hauling in the pass as he fell to the ground for a spectacular completion that drew the biggest roar of the night from the packed grandstands.

Steichen said members of the Colts' defense thought there should've been a sack on the play; Steichen said he was watching Warren's route and "incredible catch."

Richardson wrapped his first half of practice with an in-rhythm completion to Ogletree; tight end Jelani Woods made a nice adjustment on a throw behind him to haul in a pass from Richardson as well. After showing agility, acceleration and vision on a designed quarterback run, Richardson then launched a deep ball toward Mitchell, who made a standout contested catch near the goal line. Richardson secured a touchdown on the next play with a strike to tight end Will Mallory on the next play.

As practice pressed on, Richardson completed a number of short, in-rhythm passes; he also linked up with Downs and Ogletree on off-platform throws outside the pocket.

"I think everything's cleaner right now," Steichen said of Richardson. "He's playing at a high level. He's making good decisions with the football, taking the completions when needed, so it's been really good to see."

Jones then had a standout moment later in practice. He drew an offsides flag with his cadence, and then with a free play, he fired downfield toward Mitchell, who hauled in his pass for a touchdown. Mitchell, by the way, caught everything thrown his way in an impressive start-to-finish practice.

Practice ended with Steichen barking over his megaphone that the offense had to score a touchdown – the situation was down seven with 46 seconds to go. Richardson was unable to lead the first-team offense into the end zone, with Latu's second sack torpedoing that set of plays. Jones, though, worked past defensive tackle Tim Smith batting his pass down at the line of scrimmage to eventually link up with Mallory for the third-year tight end's second touchdown of the night.

And from the weather to the atmosphere to the play on the field, Thursday night's practice – the Colts' first-ever night training camp practice – was as memorable as it was encouraging.

"I kind of wanted to bring back that Friday night feel when you're in high school playing under the lights," Steichen said. "It was always a special time for myself and a lot of these guys, doing that. So to have the opportunity to do it here, at Grand Park in front of our fans, I thought was really special."

News & Notes

• Steichen said the Colts will discuss this weekend their plan for playing Jones and Richardson in next week's preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens, with a final decision on if and how much both quarterbacks will play coming Monday.
• Defensive tackle DeForest Buckner (foot) did not participate on Thursday.
• Cornerback Charvarius Ward had a rest day.
• Cornerbacks JuJu Brents and Jaylon Jones are both dealing with hamstring injuries. Jones' injury is "a little more severe" than Brents', Steichen said, though he declined to put a timetable on when either could return.