Colts cautious with Richardson’s sore shoulder

INDIANAPOLIS — Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson was held out of Thursday’s final offseason practice with right shoulder soreness, but the second-year player and coach Shane Steichen both insisted the decision was purely precautionary.

Richardson sustained an AC joint sprain last season that required season-ending surgery, but he recovered quickly and has been the Colts’ starting quarterback throughout this spring’s workouts. He was seen with trainers midway through Wednesday’s practice addressing the shoulder before returning to the lineup briefly and then giving way to backup Joe Flacco in the final period.

The soreness was normal and expected during his recovery, Richardson said.

“‘I’ve been dealing with soreness since I started throwing,” he said. “It’s hard listening to the trainers saying, ‘No, you’ve got to sit out for a day.’ But it’s part of the health journey. So, I’m just rocking with them and just listening.

“We’re actually surprised it’s been only one day like this. Luckily, it was the last day.”

Richardson indicated there was no further assessment needed and said his treatment consisted of just icing the shoulder.

“Rest assured, if we played on Sunday, he’d be starting,” Steichen said.

Some important context: The Colts were already scheduled for a short workout on their final day of offseason work, and the abbreviated practice was shortened further to around 40 minutes before Steichen capped it with a playful throwing contest involving non-quarterbacks (linebacker E.J. Speed had the most accurate passes, for the record).

Richardson resumed throwing a few months ago and has had many impressive moments in offseason practices open to reporters. His success in previous weeks made sitting the 2023 fourth overall pick on Thursday easier for the Colts.

“I’ve been putting in a lot of work, so I’m feeling real good about it,” Richardson said. “I was kind of bummed out about today, missing the last day. But they told me it’s nothing to worry about, ‘Don’t worry about the last day because I had a good period of time where I was working.'”

Richardson still plans to join his wide receivers for workouts in the coming weeks during the break between now and training camp. But other than that, the next time he works with the full team will in late July in Westfield, Indiana, after the Colts report.

And there are not expected to be restrictions at that point, Steichen said.

“He’ll have a plan going forward this summer,” Steichen said. “He’ll be ready to roll for training camp.”