As Colts weigh backup QB decision, Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard keep cheering each other on

INDIANAPOLIS – In the highest moment of his second NFL preseason, Colts quarterback Riley Leonard was looking for his mentor.

But when he turned around in the end zone at the edge of a celebratory scrum to find starting quarterback Daniel Jones , Leonard almost ran into his part-time rival and full-time teammate.

Anthony Richardson Sr. was there for one person: Riley.

As nearly the entire Colts bench poured onto the field in the moments immediately following DJ Giddens ' 6-yard scamper into the end zone for the team's lone touchdown in more than two weeks, Richardson recognized that there was more than one person to celebrate. After all, Giddens scored – or was able to score, really – because Leonard had connected on a couple key strikes in what looked, for a moment, like the second-year quarterback's only plays of the game.

See photos from the Indianapolis Colts against the Detroit Lions

Richardson has been in his share of quarterback battles – last year for the starting position, this summer to be the backup – and the former fourth-overall pick knew just how big it was that Leonard had marched the Colts down the field on a scoring drive when his number was called.

When either has been on the field this preseason, their end-goal has been to do what it takes to win the job. But when the ball isn't in the air, they're each other's biggest fan.

"Coach told us that we've got to bring the juice, be excited when we make plays, but I was more excited for Riley on his drive and making it happen, because it feels good as a quarterback, mobbing the ball and eventually putting up points," Richardson told reporters after the game of the second quarter celebratory moment. "I was more excited for (Leonard) than DJ – but don't tell DJ I said that!"

Colts head coach Shane Steichen told reporters last week that he has no timeline on when to announce Jones' backup ahead of Indianapolis' Week 1 game against the Ravens on Sept. 13, and Steichen wouldn't commit to that decision being set in stone once it comes down.

"We'll see. I mean, it's a big week for both those guys this week – to go out and practice is going to be important, and those game reps are going to be important as well," Steichen said on Tuesday.

Said more pointedly Saturday afternoon by principal team owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon during an interview in the local broadcast booth: "We were talking about the 'Find a way' consistency, it's something you need to see, and you get to your backup quarterbacks. We have two young guys with talent and potential, but we need to see more consistency.

"I think we saw it today with Anthony; I think Riley's got a lot of potential. He's a hard worker, he's got a great attitude, but it takes a little while. It takes a while for them to develop their skills."

Leonard, drafted in the sixth round in 2025 as a project who had zero expectation to play as a rookie, was thrust into the fold as Indianapolis' quarterback picture went from crystal-clear to battered to downright worrisome. Unexpectedly, the 23-year-old made his meaningful NFL debut in Jacksonville in the moments immediately after Jones tore his right Achilles tendon – a disaster that sent a team already in a tailspin into a freefall. Though he managed the offense as best he could, Indianapolis would lose that game and board the plane ride home worrying their rookie third-string QB had a knee injury. With Richardson sidelined due to a fractured orbital bone suffered in a freak pre-game accident two months prior, Steichen rang Philip Rivers on the couch.

After nearly five years of retirement, Rivers returned to the game seven days later. In the season-finale, when Leonard was given the reins to make his first-career start, the Colts having already been eliminated from the playoffs, the rookie played freely – not without blemishes, but without largely any pressure.

Flash-forward to this summer, and the weight of the moment is seemingly where he's struggled the most. Even in otherwise innocuous practice reps with the second and third teams, Leonard has struggled holding onto the ball too long.

Meanwhile, Richardson scrambles with reckless abandon, slinging it wherever he so chooses. At times, the strikes are living proof that the arm of a fourth-overall pick from three years ago still exists, but there continue to be moments where you can't help but shake or scratch your head and wonder…

Consistency, simply put, has not defined this quarterback battle. Five quarters of playing time has left Richardson 21-of-33 for 249 yards passing, zero touchdowns through the air (one on the ground) and a fumble and an interception. Leonard's figures, though marginally worse – 20-for-42, 199 yards passing, zero touchdowns and two picks – don't make much material difference.

Though both have started NFL game(s), neither is proven as a solution if Jones – the quarterback who's only ever played an entire season once in a seven-year career – goes down.

And neither may see the field again beyond Saturday, which was why, they both said, it was important to bask in the little joys when they came – together.

"I think whenever you enter a QB competition, you've just got to keep reminding yourself, 'My best is good enough to win, and Anthony's best is good enough to win.' You never want to win a competition because maybe you both played bad, but you just didn't play as bad," Leonard said post-game Saturday. "Me and him are on the same page. 'Man, I'm rooting for you,' and I know he's rooting for me.

"(It's about) who can reach their full potential? Who can play to their full potential? He's someone I really respect and love. If there's one guy I wake up in the morning and go to the facility and I'm excited to see every day and joke around with, it's Anthony. It's been a really healthy competition, so I guess we'll find out where we stand."

Unfortunately for Leonard, there was more left in his story Saturday after the touchdown drive. His teammates would force and recover a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. After an 8-minute, 4-second drive from the Lions to start the second quarter gave Leonard and the Colts less than seven minutes, the Indianapolis offense would unexpectedly get the ball a second time – this drive starting just outside the red zone, offering a prime opportunity for more highlight-reel moments to try and shrink whatever gap may exist between he and Richardson.

"I thought the first drive went really well, but unfortunately, I got two drives," said Leonard postgame, succinctly summarizing the chaos that would ensue. A deep incompletion to Deion Burks was followed by what can only be described as a bounce pass in the flat to Anthony Gould. And then on third-down, Leonard stared down a free blitzer off the edge and chucked up a prayer to Gould down the left sideline.

Not too dissimilar to an ill-placed heave two weeks ago against New England, the ball was easily picked off, ending Leonard's day and his second preseason.

In reflection, it wasn't the throw itself that irked Leonard so much as his inability pre-snap to get his teammates in place to give himself more time to throw. The pass was where he wanted the ball to go – more importantly, he said, where it should have gone.

"I felt comfortable out there. I felt confident – even on the interception. It's like, alright, you know, it is what it is, but I felt good. I felt like I was hitting it pretty well," he said. "Every week has been a lot better for me, mentally. I don't know the stats or anything and whether it proves that or not, but mentally, each week, I truly felt better out there.

"I felt very prepared coming into this game."

Richardson, for whatever it may be worth, felt he played Saturday with confidence, too. Both players enter the final days of preparation for a season where neither knows what role they'll play or if they'll actually play at all.

Maybe but one thing is for certain: They'll be rooting for each other.

"I just wanna do my best, put my best foot forward, and God will take care of the rest," Richardson said. "I'm rooting for everyone to win. I want everyone to win. I want everyone to reach their goals and dreams and aspirations that everybody has wanted since they were little kids.

"I'm rooting for Riley, and I'm just trying to do my part and put my best foot forward and leave the rest up to God."

Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter .

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