By ANDREW CHERNOFF
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
WESTFIELD – The Indianapolis Colts began training camp on Wednesday morning at Grand Park in Westfield.
And all eyes were on the quarterbacks.
Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones are each competing to be named the team’s starting quarterback for the regular season opener.
“I talked to these guys, met with them yesterday (Tuesday), sat down with them – just talked about the consistency of the operation, just moving the football up and down the field,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. “Told those guys too, no timetable on this thing. Let those guys compete, let the process play out and we’ll go from there.”
Of course, it has been known for a while that the team would have an open competition to be the starting quarterback. General Manager Chris Ballard made that statement all the way back in February during the NFL Combine.
Then in March, the Colts brought in Jones, who is getting ready for his seventh season in the NFL, to compete with Richardson.
“I think as best I can just doing that, staying focused on what I’m doing at the moment and then stacking days,” Jones said on Wednesday. “I think that’s the mindset everyone tries to take during training camp. It’s a long process. There’s a lot of work ahead of us, but kind of the best way to go about it is focusing on that day, that practice, that meeting or whatever you’re in at that moment.”
Of course, Richardson is hoping to be the starting quarterback though for the Colts in Week 1 for the third straight year.
“I think it’s the same every year – prepare, make sure I’m at the best of my possible self for this team,” Richardson said. “The same thing goes back to my rookie year when I was competing with Gardner (Minshew II) for the starting job. Just learning the offense, mastering the offense. And just being available for the team, I think that’s the main thing. Conversations with Shane (Steichen) haven’t really changed much. He told us that Daniel (Jones) and I are going to compete. He let us know every day is a competition. So, we both got to work and compete for that job, and whoever wins it wins it.”
Richardson’s offseason program with the team was cut short after suffering a shoulder injury earlier this year. But he’s back now and said he’s confident he would get over the injury.
“They told me I had to sit down a few weeks, and I was like, ‘Man, I could go right now,’” Richardson said. “So, I just had to listen to the team, just take the advice from the medical team, take the advice from my trainer and just prepare myself for this upcoming season and just be ready for training camp.”
The Colts continue training camp on Thursday morning. Practice will take place from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. EDT.
This story originally appeared on WISH-TV at wishtv.com/sports/indianapolis-colts/colts-qb-battle-training-camp/