The Indianapolis Colts turned heads on Sunday morning when they announced that quarterback Anthony Richardson was inactive for the Week 6 game against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Colts dropped their inactives an hour and a half before their 1 p.m. ET kickoff on Sunday afternoon and Richardson was noticeably on it, which means rookie Riley Leonard is set to back up starter Daniel Jones.
With the trade deadline rapidly approaching and Richardson being a prime trade candidate after losing his job to Jones, many assumed this was a sign the former No. 4 overall pick might get traded.
Here's what we know about Richardson's absence.
Why is Anthony Richardson inactive?
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Richardson suffered an eye injury in pre-game warm-ups, leading to his being ruled inactive.
"Anthony Richardson suffered an eye injury during pregame warm-ups, per a team official," Schefter reported.
Richardson was not listed on the team's injury report this week, so this is a new issue for him. The severity remains unknown.
Richardson has been widely speculated about as someone who could get traded at the deadline now that Jones is the starter and is playing good football en route to a 4-1 record.
Richardson's career has been marred by injury and ineffective play, which is what opened the door for Jones to take his job during the offseason.
The Colts have said they don't plan to trade Richardson, but it's not like they would admit it publicly if they were.
Richardson is still just 24 years old and there is probably more than one team out there that thinks they could possibly fix him. We'll see if the Colts change their minds about trading Richardson if teams come calling at the deadline.
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