Anthony Richardson's long-awaited return offered several exciting plays in the 2024 season opener, but there were moments where the Colts' burgeoning quarterback also had the home crowd holding their collective breath for other reasons.
Take for instance a hard sack he took in the first quarter, when Texans defensive lineman Mario Edwards rag-dolled the Colts QB to the ground with authority, nearly or appearing to force Richardson's head to hit the turf.
There was no flag thrown on the play for unnecessary roughness, which didn't seem to please Colts head coach Shane Steichen on Monday.
"When there's hits like that, it doesn't matter who the quarterback is," Steichen told reporters, refraining from going into too much detail.
Richardson, who's only finished three of his five career starts due to injury, including Sunday's 29-27 loss to the Texans, was thankfully not hurt on the play. The Colts' second-year QB is coming off season-ending shoulder surgery for an injury he sustained when getting tackled on a scramble during his rookie campaign. His other two early exits last season were due to knee soreness and a concussion.
The 6-foot-4, 244-pound QB has seen his fair share of physical plays so far. Aside from that first-quarter hit he took on Sunday, Richardson sustained another hard sack in the third quarter and was tackled several times while rushing for 56 yards on six attempts, including a harsh touchdown run at the goal line in the fourth quarter.
"I think some of those -- I don't want to get into too much detail -- but yeah, there was a few that were... yeah -- you guys know, you saw 'em," Steichen said. "So, we will look at those and get those looked at for sure."
Richardson said before the 2024 season that there's nothing "wrong" with his physical style of play, and that he doesn't feel the need to change his initiative. After all, it's what separates Richardson from the rest, being a tough QB to bring down while also possessing one of the strongest arms in the NFL.
That was evident in his Week 1 performance on Sunday, completing three 54-plus yard passes against the Texans, one of which being a ball that travelled 65.3 yards in the air on a TD score to Alec Pierce -- the third-longest completion in the Next Gen Stats era.
Steichen is doing his due diligence to look after his young QB the day after. Given Richardson's promising talent, it's the right thing to do for the franchise.