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Jul. 25—WESTFIELD — As Anthony Richardson reached the depth of his dropback, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback planted his back foot in the ground and came to a sudden stop.
Linebacker Zaire Franklin was rushing up the middle, and — even without pads and wearing a red non-contact jersey in the first practice of training camp Thursday — Richardson had to think quickly.
He made a slight shuffle to gain an inch of separation and then raised the football over his head with both hands in a swooping motion like a basketball player attempting to keep possession of a rebound in traffic.
That was enough to allow Franklin to slip past, and Richardson raced without further contest into the end zone about 12 yards away.
Defenders notoriously dispute running plays in training camp where tackling is almost always forbidden. That’s even more true when the ball carrier is a quarterback.
But Richardson was brooking no protest from Franklin.
“Man, Z knows that wasn’t a tackle,” a smiling Richardson said at Grand Park Sports Campus. “He knows that wasn’t a tackle.”
The 22-year-old quarterback reported to training camp without any throwing restrictions despite having his rookie season cut short after just five weeks — and four starts — because of shoulder injury.
And he looked crisp during a 60-minute opening practice focused on work inside the red zone. Richardson was 4-of-5 with touchdown passes to wide receivers Alec Pierce and Michael Pittman Jr. as well as tight end Kylen Granson.
His lone incompletion came after the pass rush caused him to stumble just before releasing a throw intended for rookie wide receiver AD Mitchell. The resulting pass was too low for Mitchell to haul in — despite his best diving effort.
But for as much attention as Richardson’s shoulder is likely to generate this season, his legs will also be the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/colts-qb-run-game-stay-221800608.html
Author : The Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Ind.
Publish date : 2024-07-25 22:18:00
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