Christmas Eve injury keeps Anthony Richardson out for Colts

Last weekend’s loss to the New York Giants ended any lingering playoff hopes for the Indianapolis Colts and they will close their season with a home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Shane Steichen’s side will take to the field without starting quarterback Anthony Richardson after he failed to recover from a back injury. Richardson reported feeling severe back pain on the night of Christmas Eve and was sidelined for the loss against the Giants.

On Friday Steichen confirmed that Richardson would not feature in Week 18 either, adding that he “just didn’t make enough progress this week.”

However the Colts head coach suggested that Richardson will not need surgery to address the issues, adding that he doesn’t think it’s “that severe”. These latest issues come after Richardson missed 13 games of the 2023 season after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Richardson himself admitted that the back injury “might be chronic” after struggling to stand up at points in recent weeks, even “crawling around the house” due to the injury.

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“I think you’re going to go through some tough times in this league and it’s a tough league, but you got to battle through those things,” Steichen said of his QB. “You’ve got to handle adversity in this league, and I think when you go through those types of situations that we went through this year, it’s going to make [him] stronger.”

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