Richardson starts fast, Packers finish strong to rally past Colts in preseason

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson again showed glimpses of his potential Saturday.

He also demonstrated those same frustrating miscues again, too.

Richardson played nearly the entire second quarter, capped the Colts’ best drive of the preseason with the first touchdown of the game before the Green Bay Packers rallied late for a 23-19 victory in what could be the final chance to impress coach Shane Steichen.

“I’d like to have a decision here shortly,” Steichen said when asked when he’d decide whether Richardson or Daniel Jones would start the Sept. 7 opener against Miami. “I’m very close. I’ll say that. I’m very close.”

Richardson went 6 of 11 with 73 yards, no interceptions or fumbles. Tyson Goodson scored the Colts' lone TD on a 3-yard run. Richardson also took advantage of a fumble recovery to set up the second of Spencer Shrader’s four field goals and perhaps most important avoided another injury.

Daniel Jones played the first two series and went 7 of 11 with 101 yards for the Colts (0-2).

Each has now started — and lost — a preseason game, this time because of Sean Clifford’s 11-yard TD run with 1:31 to go.

“It was a great drive at the end of the game, and he was able to use his legs a little bit on some keepers and was able to get into the end zone,” Packers coach Matt laFleur said, referring to Clifford.

Jason Bean led the Colts to the Packers 31-yard line in the final minute, but came up short on a fourth down pass after a replay review.

Green Bay (1-1) used Israel Abanikanda's 3-yard TD run in the third quarter to get within 13-10 and Amar Johnson’s 9-yard TD run tied the score at 16 because of a missed extra point.

LaFleur held out 29 players, including quarterback Jordan Love two days after the teams held a joint practice. Love had surgery to repair a ligament in his left thumb earlier this week.

Malik Willis went 6 of 14 with 83 yards in place of Love. Clifford ran twice for 19 yards.

LaFleur held out 29 players including quarterback Jordan Love just two days after a joint practice to close Indy’s training camp. Love had surgery to repair a ligament in his left thumb earlier this week.

But with Indy’s quarterback competition still in play, Steichen opted to play most of his starters into the second quarter. While Jones made quick decisions and was mostly on target, Richardson sprinkled in some impressive throws and runs with some bad misses and some poor decisions.

“Second quarter went fast, but thought I had a smooth rhythm out there,” Richardson said. “It doesn’t matter what I think. At the end of the day, it’s up to them. I’ve been trying to put my best step forward, trying to grow each and every step of the way.”

The Colts lost their top two right tackles to injuries. Braden Smith, the starter, left with a groin injury in the first half. Smith’s backup, Blake Freeland, was carted off the field with a fractured lower right leg in the second quarter.

Abanikanda led a 159-yard rushing attack for Green Bay with 12 carries for 43 yards.

Flagged

While the Packers largely cleaned up the drops from last week's preseason opener, the penalty flags continued to fly. The Packers finished with 12 penalties, and nobody had it rougher than backup right tackle Anthony Belton. The rookie was flagged five times in the first half — two illegal formations, one false start, an unnecessary roughness and a face mask.

“I did think he bounced back in the second half, so that’s encouraging,” LaFleur said. "But there's certainly a lot to coach.”

The Colts finished with 11 penalties for 103 yards.

Injuries

Indy also lost rookie safety-linebacker Hunter Wohler with a foot injury, cornerback Johnathan Edwards with a concussion and linebacker Jacob Phillips with a bicep injury.

Up next

The Packers have another joint practice this week with Seattle before closing out the preseason against the Seahawks next Saturday.

Indy visits Cincinnati next Saturday.

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