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Colts Hc Shane Steichen Names Starter For Preseason Opener

Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback Anthony Richardson (#5) waves to the fans during Colts Camp at Grand Park Sports Campus, Tuesday, July 29, 2025 in Westfield. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Co

Indianapolis Coltshead coach Shane Steichenindicated on Tuesday in Foxborough that backup quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. will receive the start on the road for Thursday night’s preseason opener against the New England Patriots, playing in the first half, while fellow quarterback Riley Leonardwill take over in the second half.

#Colts head coach Shane Steichen shared Anthony Richardson will start at QB against the Patriots, with Riley Leonard playing the second half.

He also said Daniel Jones will not be playing in any preseason game. pic.twitter.com/eDEM6RyUG3
— WISH-TV News (@WISHNews8) August 11, 2026

The plan is then for Leonard to start a week later when the Colts host the Atlanta Falcons in preseason, with Richardson then coming in relief of him in the 2nd half of action.

Of course, as noted above, Colts starting quarterback Daniel Jones, who’s so far looked very sharp in training camp and has shown no lingering effects of last season’s Achilles tear, will not play in any preseason games.

Regarding the Colts QB2 competition behind Jones with Richardson and Leonard as the challengers, neither backup quarterback has clearly separated himself from the other throughout training camp so far.

Preseason could be an ideal opportunity for either backup quarterback to make their clear case for the QB2 job.

Regarding Richardson, he’s still made the occasional ‘highlight reel’ throw in Colts camp, but it’s just a matter of achieving greater consistency. Of critical importance for Richardson will be showing that some of the fumbled snap issues he’s had in training camp are just an aberration and not a lingering issue of potential vision loss. Colts head coach Shane Steichen can’t accept unnecessary turnovers—and rightfully so, no NFL coach could.

For what it’s worth, Leonard, who’s also had an up-and-down camp so far, reportedly had a strong showing running with the 2’s during Tuesday morning’s joint training camp practice with the Patriots just ahead of the two teams’ Week 1 preseason game.

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Colts Hc Shane Steichen Names Starter For Preseason Opener

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