The Indianapolis Colts' playoff hopes are now on life support after the injury to quarterback Daniel Jones.
Jones suffered a torn Achilles injury in the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, which leaves the Colts with a gaping hole amid their dwindling playoff hopes.
With Jones on the shelf, and with Anthony Richardson also on injured reserve, Indy is left with rookie Riley Leonard and veteran Brett Rypien (practice squad) as their only signal-callers, a less-than ideal situation.
The precarious spot the Colts find themselves in begs the question: is Richardson going to come back this season?
Here's what we know.
Anthony Richardson injury update
The latest update on Richardson, who is on injured reserve after suffering an orbital bone fracture, comes from ESPN's Stephen Holder, who wrote on Dec. 3 that Richardson has not been cleared for football activities yet.
However, Holder added that the Colts "have not closed the door" on Richardson coming back this season, which once seemed insignificant before Jones' injury.
Richardson suffered his injury in a freak pre-game accident in October. The former first-round pick was working with an elastic band when the bar it was strapped to broke, hitting the Colts quarterback in the face.
"Any time you're dealing with an eye, you want to make sure he's got full vision in that eye," Colts head coach Steichen said. "He's resting it right now, and once he's cleared to go, I'll let you guys know."
Steichen added that Richardson is taking part in some training activities in the weight room at this point, which was a recent step forward for him.
All that said, Richardson's return timeline remains up in the air and it's likely he won't be able to make it back in time to have a chance to save the Colts' season.
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