Colts owner Jim Irsay wants Anthony Richardson to play early

Anthony Richardson might’ve served as starting quarterback for just one season at Florida, but that’s not gonna stop the Indianapolis Colts from getting him on the field sooner rather than later.

Appearing on “The Pat McAfee Show” Monday, Colts owner Jim Irsay, who selected Richardson fourth overall in April’s NFL Draft, admitted it will be “tough” for Richardson once he makes his NFL debut, but that he “has to play.”

“As you guys know, Peyton [Manning’s rookie] year we were 3-13, the first year,” Irsay said, via NFL.com. “That’s a guy who played a lot of college games and was really prepared as much as he could be for the league. So, for Anthony Richardson, it’s going to be tough. We know that. But he has to play to get better. I mean, there’s no question. Gardner [Minshew] could come out and play better early on, him just being a veteran, but we have to get Anthony on the field. And that’s [head coach] Shane [Steichen’s] call when he decides to do it.”

As Irsay said in his comparison, Manning, the No. 1 overall selection in the 1998 NFL Draft, was a four-year starter at Tennessee who came into the league as one of the best quarterback prospects of all-time. Richardson, one of the more athletically-gifted quarterbacks to enter the league in some time, had just one starting season under his belt before the Colts made him the centerpiece of their future. In 12 games in his final season at Florida, Richardson threw for 2,549 yards with 17 touchdowns and nine interceptions on 53.8% passing. He added 654 yards and nine scores on the ground.

Anthony Richardson working through rookie growing pains

While the 6-foot-4, 244-pounder will undoubtedly go through some growing pains — and has to this point — things are beginning to slow down for the 21-year-old.

“Things have definitely slowed down,” Richardson said during mandatory minicamp last month. “It was my first day practicing with the vets was way different from rookie minicamp. You know, I just see guys flying around. I pulled the ball on a zone read one time and the end was chasing me, he was like right next to me. I’m like, okay, this is different. So, it was definitely more fast, but the next day I noticed some progress and I was just relaxing and just trusting what I was studying. But it’s definitely slowing down for me.”