BALTIMORE — Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. had just been flattened by an unblocked defender when he looked down to secure the football.
That’s when he saw his right pinkie turned at nearly a 90-degree angle, immediately indicating that something was very wrong.
Richardson suffered a dislocated pinkie on his throwing hand in Thursday night’s 24-16 loss to the Baltimore Ravens when linebacker David Ojabo sacked him with 7:33 left in the first quarter of the teams’ preseason opener. The Colts’ medical staff popped the finger back into place, but Richardson soon was ruled out for the game, ending his night early amid his ongoing quarterback battle with veteran Daniel Jones.
“It was weird,” Richardson said. “He hit me, then I was trying to make sure I had the ball and I just looked down. I saw my finger in a different direction. I’m like, ‘Maybe I’m tripping.’ And I looked at it again. It was definitely like that.”
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Richardson indicated after the game that he felt mostly fine. He said there was some swelling and that the finger was tender.
“It’ll be a little bit more so in the morning,” he said. “But I’ll be good.”
It was a disappointing end to an important night for Richardson. He had completed two of his first three passes for 21 yards before the injury occurred, cutting short an opportunity to build on the encouraging performances he has had in training camp and in Tuesday’s joint practice against the Ravens.
Coach Shane Steichen had planned to have Richardson play a majority of the first half Thursday as part of the team’s evaluation of the two quarterbacks. Steichen planned to give Jones roughly equal playing time in next week’s preseason game against the Green Bay Packers.
Now, given Richardson’s brief outing and uncertain health status, Steichen said he wasn’t sure how he would proceed. If Richardson is available next week, he might have to get a longer look seeing how Jones finished the first half Thursday (10 of 21 for 144 yards).
“That’s definitely the thing I’m going to look into because, obviously, Daniel got the bulk of the reps tonight,” Steichen said.
Richardson acknowledged he didn’t anticipate the blitzing linebacker in Ojabo but should have been more aware of the possibility because the play called for a five-man protection with no tight end or running back to help block.
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“I’ve just got to get my eyes, just be able to react to it,” he said. “… Got to be on my P’s and Q’s when it comes to that.”
Richardson said he thought the nickel corner might be the blitzing defender, but the Ravens “brought it from the other side.”
After the injury, Richardson tested his ability to grip and throw the ball and initially had difficulty. He wanted “to make sure I could even throw, honestly,” he said. “I was just trying to get a feel of it, see how I felt. I was able to a little bit, but not [to] the best of my ability.”
Richardson sat out 13 games because of injuries as a rookie, including a season-ending AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder that required surgery. Last season, he sat out four games because of injury and another two when he was briefly benched in favor of veteran Joe Flacco. His injury history, coupled with his inconsistent play, prompted the Colts to add Jones in the offseason.
Also, the Colts confirmed a season-ending knee injury to third-round pick Justin Walley, who was in line to be the team’s third cornerback and was one of the standouts of training camp. Walley suffered a torn ACL in Tuesday’s practice, according to Steichen, a major setback to the Colts’ thin cornerback unit.
“A huge blow,” Steichen said. “He was having a hell of a camp. His man-cover skills were great. He was making a ton of plays in practice too before it happened. Just an unfortunate situation for him.”
