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Philip Rivers throws 1st TD pass in nearly 5 years (0:19)
Philip Rivers finds Josh Downs across the middle for his first passing touchdown since the 2020 season. (0:19)
Stephen HolderDec 18, 2025, 01:09 PM ET
- Stephen joined ESPN in 2022, covering the Indianapolis Colts and NFL at large. Stephen finished first place in column writing in the 2015 Indiana Associated Press Media Editors competition, and he is a previous top-10 winner in explanatory journalism in the Associated Press Sports Editors national contest. He has chronicled the NFL since 2005, covering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2005-2013 and the Colts since 2013. He has previously worked for the Miami Herald, Tampa Bay Times, Indianapolis Star and The Athletic.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. returned to practice Thursday, two months after a scary pregame incident endangered his right eye and left him with a fractured orbital bone.
The Colts are not committing to Richardson returning to the field this season, with coach Shane Steichen saying they want to first evaluate him given the injury's impact on his vision.
"He still has some vision limitations in his [right] eye," Steichen said. "So we're going to get him back on the practice field, get him throwing, doing some scout-team reps. It's just something that's he's going to have to manage through the process."
For his part, Richardson acknowledged some vision issues but said things are mostly back to normal.
"There's not really major limitations," he said. "It's just a little different because of the impact in my eye, but most of it's really the same. I was still able to move around the same and do everything I needed to do. So that's not that bad."
He added, "It's improved a lot, actually. When it first happened, it was just a lot of swelling and everything. Couldn't see much. But after two or three weeks from the surgery, everything healed up nice."
As for the starting quarterback for the time being, that remains Philip Rivers. The veteran quarterback came out of retirement at 44 last week, after five seasons away from the game, to fill in at quarterback in the aftermath of Daniel Jones' season-ending Achilles injury.
"Right now, Philip's our starting quarterback," Steichen said Thursday.
The Colts host the San Francisco 49ers on "Monday Night Football" to end Week 16.
The next steps for Richardson involve the Colts monitoring his progress in practice. Steichen said he would not be active for Monday's game.
For Richardson, the return to practice was a long time coming. He was initially prohibited from doing any strenuous physical activity after the injury because the bone needed time to heal.
"I need to be back on the field," Richardson said. "I love playing football. I've been doing it since I was 2. And it's just something I love doing. I just love being here with my teammates. And originally, they told me I was going to have to wait until after the season to see how my eye healed up. And luckily, I got clear this month and I just thank God for it.
"I'm ready to practice."
