HOUSTON – Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson was not on the field for a play late in the third quarter in a game in which his team trailed by two scores and later lost.

Oddly enough, Richardson wasn’t on the sidelines because he was injured, but rather because he was exhausted.

The second-year quarterback left the game after flailing around in anger during the previous two games against the Houston Texans defense. On a second-and-goal play from the Houston 23-yard line, Richardson shook off a would-be sack from defensive tackle Folorunso Fatukasi before turning onto the field and looking for a target. Richardson ultimately kept the ball and was ultimately tackled by linebacker Jake Hansen for no gain.

Richardson slowly stood up and walked to the nearby Colts sideline, tapping his helmet along the way. On the sideline, he immediately took a knee.

“I was tired,” he said. “I’m not going to lie. That was a lot of running there. I didn’t think I could play that next play, so I told (Colts coach) Shane (Steichen) I just needed a break there.”

Richardson’s departure from the match initially raised questions about whether he had suffered an injury. Earlier in the game, he took a punch that hit his left hand and was seen flexing it along the sideline. But athletic trainers who checked on him did not appear to be treating an injury and seemed satisfied that he was doing well.

“He needed a breather,” Steichen said. “He ran three times in a row and it was third and long, so we were going to hand the ball off.”

Backup quarterback Joe Flacco entered the game and essentially laid hands on running back Jonathan Taylor on a third-and-goal from the 23. Taylor gained 5 yards, and the Colts settled for a field goal from 37 yards, thus shortening Houston’s. lead to 20-13. The Texans ultimately won 23-20.

The strange series of events will only intensify the discourse surrounding Richardson, whose season-long struggles have been a weekly challenge for the Colts to find their way. Richardson, the fourth pick in the 2023 draft, has completed 44.4% of his pass attempts on the season after Sunday’s attempt of 10-of-32, 175 yards.

Sunday’s crucial AFC South game — a win would have given the Colts a share of the division lead with Houston — instead became another referendum on Richardson’s future with Indianapolis.

Richardson’s skill players let him down repeatedly in the game, with running back Tyler Goodson dropping a perfect touchdown pass and a Michael Pittman Jr. penalty negating another would-be Richardson touchdown throw. Richardson was pressured on 17 of his 32 dropbacks in the game, indicating some protection issues.

But the conversation will likely focus on Richardson’s performance, despite his career-long 69-yard touchdown pass to receiver Josh Downs.

After showing considerable talent in the four games he played in 2023 before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, Richardson has arguably experienced a regression in 2024. Richardson, for his part, rejected that story.

“I feel like I’m a great passer,” he said. “I’ve been playing quarterback pretty much all my life. I’m just a different quarterback than everyone else, so people will try to point out that I’m not as efficient as everyone else. But I think it’s cool. I handle the ball much better than any other quarterback. Probably not Lamar (Jackson), but (better) than most quarterbacks.

Richardson did have 45 rushing yards on six carries on Sunday, but only two of his rushes were designed runs. That paled in comparison to the seven he had in a win over the Miami Dolphins last week.

So, what’s next for Richardson? The Colts have resisted the idea of ​​starting Flacco since Richardson returned from a two-game absence due to an oblique injury. But the questions about Richardson are unlikely to go away.

“We’re continuing to go through the process,” Steichen said. “It’s a process. We keep grinding through it. We do it together. It’s a team game. We grind through those things and get it.”