OCTOBER 13: It is unclear at this point how long Richardson will be out for, but ESPN’s Stephen Holder reports he will be sidelined for “a while.” The Colts could find themselves in the market for a short-term quarterback addition as a result, but decisions on that front will of course depend on Richardson’s prognosis. At least for the time being, Leonard is now second on the depth chart.
OCTOBER 12: The Colts saw a pair of uncanny pregame injuries take out a player on each side of the ball today before they were even suited up in pads. The more serious of the two injuries saw backup quarterback Anthony Richardson suffer an orbital fracture when an elastic band injured his eye, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. 
Claims were that the injury was the result of a malfunction of the elastic band while Richardson was doing band work. In each of his first two years in the NFL, the Colts have repeatedly tried to establish Richardson as the team’s next big starting quarterback, usually just for injuries to derail any chances for success. A concussion and shoulder surgery caused him to miss all but four games of his rookie season, and he missed three separate two-week stretches for the Colts last year due to injury.
The Colts apparently couldn’t even keep Richardson healthy as a backup. The 23-year-old spent today’s game at the hospital dealing with the injury as sixth-round rookie passer Riley Leonard was elevated into the QB2 role behind starter Daniel Jones. Luckily, nothing happened to Jones, who played every offensive snap for the team, but the AFC’s current No. 1 seed was a play away from being down to their QB3 due to a freak accident in pregame warmups.
The other player who was injured in an unusual manner during pregame activities today was cornerback Charvarius Ward. While running drills in pregame warmups, Ward collided with a tight end and was left concussed and unavailable for the game. This hurt an already thin cornerbacks group that featured Jaylon Jones and Kenny Moore as existing inactives. It will be interesting to see just how Ward and Richardson progress through their injuries this week and how it will affect the team going forward.
Get well soon to him loved him at Florida but the line “he can’t even stay healthy as a backup” got a chuckle out of me
Did the Colts sign Ikemefuna “I.K.” Enemkpali? Because that sounds more believable than rubber band accident.
Companies that manufacture elastic bands need to include a user manual for guys like Richardson.
I disagree with the premise that “The more serious of the two injuries saw backup quarterback”. The team would be cooked if old glass Joe was forced into action.
Flacco is now in Cincinnati — and all of Indiana saw his first Bengals start on Sunday vs. Green Bay.
The Colts deserve credit, though, for being a team that actually carries backups with similar skillsets. Leonard and Richardson both can run a lot of the mobility based plays, you’d think, that Jones will (of course, with an expected lesser rate of success). I’m surprised how many teams who use mobile quarterbacks have immobile backups…and teams that carry pocket passers (fewer these days) have backups that are one read players.
I’d be curious about the details. I assume an elastic band could do some damage to the eye itself, but to fracture the orbital socket probably requires something pretty hard.
Yeah I seem to recall a minor league baseball player fully losing an eye because of a training hand accident.
Matt Imhof was the Phillies minor leaguer that lost his eye
If you’ve ever used them either to warm up, stretch, or actually work on an individual body part, those elastics can have handles or some kind of knob which when the band breaks, can put a pretty serious dent in even a solid door…so you can imagine what might happen if it hits you in the face……
And, I just got notified that my comment is awaiting moderation…..are you kidding me….what’s divisive in what I wrote….or are you folks at MLB Traderumors so WOKE that anything can get held up…..
J bands have metal loops attached onto them, that’s what I presume he was using. I played minor league baseball over 10 years as a pitcher, and was always nervous about one of them snapping into my face on certain angles.
Okay. I use the elastics to warm up, but they have no handles. But now I recall seeing plenty of them at the gym that do have handles, and some people attaching serious weights to them on dips and such. If one of those snapped, it would have a serious repercussion.
Bettors cry foul …
Richardson is becoming a Bad Luck Brian meme.
Didn’t play–still got injured.
The knot coming loose and popping you in the face doesn’t qualify as a “malfunction of the elastic band”. That would be a “whoever tied the knot f****d up” situation. Pure speculation on my part.
“Injured during warmups for a game you’re not playing in” is a helluva footnote