The second-year quarterback sat out Week 17
Anthony Richardson didn’t play in the Indianapolis Colts‘ Week 17 loss to the Giants due to what coach Shane Steichen initially described as back soreness. The quarterback’s injury was far more severe than reported, Richardson suggested to reporters Wednesday, saying he “couldn’t even stand up” prior to Sunday’s game and has actually been battling a lower disk issue since he was a teenager.
“Last week was tough,” Richardson said. “I couldn’t even stand up on Tuesday. I could barely even walk. [I was] crawling around the house. But I’m here, I’m standing now. If I can do everything on my part to get on the field, I’m gonna do so. That was my mindset last week as well, but I could barely move.
“I’ve been dealing with stuff like this since, like, eighth grade,” he continued. “But it’s never been this severe. It was definitely a little scary last week. … I got an MRI. They checked it out. They said it’s a disk thing that’s been there for a while, but I guess it got triggered the wrong way last week.”
Richardson said he hopes to play in the Colts’ Week 18 regular-season finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars. His revelation raises additional concerns about an already checkered medical history, however. The 2023 first-round draft pick notably missed all but four games as a rookie due to multiple injuries, including an AC joint sprain. He’s appeared in just 11 games this year, meanwhile, battling an oblique injury in between a temporary demotion in favor of veteran backup Joe Flacco.
