This could be the beginning of the end for the Indianapolis Colts and Anthony Richardson.
On Sunday, Richardson won't be the Colts' backup quarterback. He's inactive as the emergency QB3.
The Colts have activated Riley Leonard, the sixth-round rookie out of Notre Dame, instead.
Richardson hurt his eye doing pregame warmup work with stretching bands, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
In some ways, it's a subtle move, and it might not matter in Week 6. If Daniel Jones stays healthy, it won't matter who the Colts' backup quarterback is.
But it also signals a background changing of the guard.
Leonard is talented and a great runner, but he's remarkably far from a sure thing.
Richardson was the No. 4 overall pick in 2024. His pedigree from a draft status perspective is much higher than Leonard.
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But when Richardson lost the starting job this summer to the free agent signee Jones, it was a bad sign.
And this is a worse sign.
It's not clear whether Richardson has much trade value, with the trade deadline coming up in the first week of December.
But at this point, the Colts appear to have given up on him.
Leonard may not be the backup of the future, but he's the backup for now.
And that means Richardson's NFL future may just be in trouble.
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