Anthony Richardson injury update: Chris Ballard says Colts QB ‘looks really good’

Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard just shared some good news about Anthony Richardson. While appearing on The Pat McAfee Show during the NFL Draft, Ballard gave an update on his starting quarterback who is rehabbing from shoulder surgery.

“He looks really good,” Ballard said while also mentioning he watched Richardson throw 65 balls. “His spirit is good, now it’s just continue to finish his rehab up and be ready for OTAs when we start that up in a week.”

Richardson, who was selected by the Colts at No. 4 overall in last year’s draft, played in four games before being placed on injured reserve for suffering an AC joint sprain. In those four games, the Florida alum completed 60 percent of his passes and there for 577 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

What Ballard said about Richardson is similar to what Colts coach Shane Steichen told reporters about his health status earlier this month. “He’s in a really good spot,” Steichen said. “Had really good discussions that I’ll obviously keep private, but he’s in a really good spot. Shoulder is feeling good. Should be good to go for practices like we talked about earlier. He’ll be out there throwing, but we’ll limit. We’ll obviously monitor it, makes sure we’re smart with that, but he’s in a really good place.”

Colts drafted players to help Anthony Richardson

When the 2024 season begins, Richardson will be working with some new players. In the second round of the draft, the Colts added Texas wide receiver Adonai Mitchell. And in the third round, Indianapolis selected Pitt offensive lineman Matt Goncalves.

“When you’ve got a young quarterback – you’ve got to protect him,” Ballard said, per the Colts official website. “That’s one. … (And) you want to continue to add playmakers around him.”

Ballard went to talk about the impact Mitchell will make with the Colts. “I think he will help us – we are not expecting him to be Superman right away,” Ballard said. “I think he expects himself to be Superman right away, but we don’t expect that. We expect him to come in and develop. We’ve got a good group. (Michael) Pittman (Jr.) is back and he’s hungry. You’ve got Josh Downs in year two who we thought had a great rookie year. We’ve got (Alec) Pierce who we think is going to take another step. We get Ashton Dulin back. We think we’ve got a really good group.”