The Colts Show Mailbag: Anthony Richardson Sr., icing kickers, Jonathan Taylor with Philip Rivers
Tim Head (Pittsford, N.Y.): Why not have Richardson back up Rivers? He appears to be ready to at least back up Rivers. He has qualities that Rivers does not. Maybe use in certain situations.
JJ Stankevitz: Shane Steichen has been pretty clear this week that Richardson is not ready to play in a game yet, even if he’s returned to practice in a limited fashion. Richardson will not be activated off injured reserve this week, and the Colts will evaluate his readiness to play going forward.
“Just see how he practices, see how he’s feeling,” Steichen said. “Obviously, watching the practice tape, talking to him, see how he’s feeling.”
Before the Colts get to a point of considering whether to use Richardson in certain situations – like short-yardage sneaks – they need to make sure he’s fully ready to play after that freak eye injury he sustained in October. We’ll see.
Becky Hyatt (Salem, Ind.): Hello Colts fans! Just wanted to ask, why in the world did the coach not ice that kicker last week? Or ice the offense to try and break the momentum? 3 time outs could of stressed the Seahawks. We should of won that game but I will always stand by my team. Loyalty means the world.
JJ Stankevitz: Interesting thought here from Becky. I didn’t have an answer, so I looked up if icing the kicker actually has an impact. I found a statistical study here, which shows for veteran kickers (like Jason Myers), there isn’t much of an impact. As for impacting the offense, with the Seahawks facing a second and 10 from the Colts’ 46-yard line, Lou Anarumo had eight defenders walked up to the line of scrimmage in an attempt to confuse Sam Darnold and force an errant throw or generate a sack; calling a timeout would’ve given him a clearer picture there. Darnold, of course, picked out Rasheed Shaheed on an out-breaker to the sideline, which set up Myers’ game-winner.
