Anthony Richardson has been out of action since a freak accident in Week 6, but he will not return anytime soon. He continues to deal with vision issues.
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Speaking with reporters ahead of Week 18's game against the Texans, the former first-round draft pick provided insight into his vision problems. He confirmed he is making progress after fracturing his orbital bone in pregame warmups in Week 6, but he also explained that close-quarters maneuvers are still a concern.
"Everything downfield, not going to be a problem," Richardson said, per the team website. "Everything more so within the foot radius of my box, that's more so the toughest part."
"In general, my eyesight has been improving, especially from when it first happened. But every day is going to be a day for improvement or healing. Obviously, my eye's not 100 percent, but it's getting there day by day...when it comes to football, I feel pretty good."
Head coach Shane Steichen confirmed that Richardson will remain inactive during the regular-season finale. The Colts will move forward with rookie Riley Leonard getting the start. Either Seth Henigan or Philip Rivers will serve as the backup.
"He can run around and throw and stuff, it's just the vision limitations that he has right now," Steichen said. "Think about it, if you don't have perfect eyesight and something happens, you don't see someone and you get hit, that's not a good thing. So we just want to be smart with it.
"It was a freak accident that happened, and like I said, I had a long conversation with him in my office yesterday and I feel for him. Because it is, it's a terrible thing that happened. You never want it to happen, you don't know why things happen, but he's been in good spirits and he's battling like crazy and hopefully everything comes back good and he'll be good."
Missing the rest of the season while continuing to recover means that Richardson has only made 17 in-game appearances since being drafted with the fourth overall pick in 2023.
The Colts will head into the offseason examining Richardson's future. The former Florida Gators quarterback has one year remaining on his $33,994,031 rookie deal. The Colts can also keep him around for a fifth season by exercising an option on the deal.
