COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Anthony Richardson led a touchdown drive on his first series against Bengals backups Thursday night, but the rest of his night was a struggle.
The Colts quarterback got his first significant chunk of playing time with the rest of the offensive starters in the final preseason game. He showed he still has work to do on his accuracy and consistency.
The fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft played the first five offensive series, finishing 8 for 14 for 86 yards in Indianapolis' 27-14 victory over Cincinnati.
Most of it came on the first drive after a Cincinnati punt when Richardson directed an 80-yard drive, completing 7 of 8 passes for 65 yards and finishing it with a 9-yard scoring toss to Adonai Mitchell.
His one incompletion was a throw that sailed through the hands of tight end Drew Ogletree in the end zone.
It got worse from there.
Bengals safety Jordan Battle picked off Richardson's pass and went in 9 yards for a TD. The third drive stalled when Richardson missed Mitchell on third-and-6 from the Colts 35.
Then he missed Mitchell again deep on third down to force another punt. On his last drive before giving way to Sam Ehlinger, he put the Colts in the hole with a sack and fumble. On third-and-15, picked up just 3 yards on a scramble.
Richardson was upbeat afterward.
“It's always fun when I get to play football. As far as the game, stuff is going to happen,” he said. “Stuff is not always going to go our way. There's going to be incomplete passes. I'm going to miss some passes, receivers are going to drop some. Stuff like that is going happen.”
Richardson is trying to get right after an injury-filled rookie season limited him to just four starts. He finished only one game. Now the 22-year-old must prove he can remain healthy enough to make an impact as the franchise quarterback the Colts expect him to be.
“We saw what we’re able to do that first drive, and those last few there are some things we wish we could take away from that, but it was a decent learning curve for all of us," he said.
Colts coach Shane Steichen's confidence in his quarterback hasn't wavered.
“Guys are going to miss throws. I don't care if you're a second-year player or a 15-year veteran,” he said. “I don't have any concerns. He's going to make some huge plays for us this year. I think it's also going to be fun to watch.”
Colts quarterback Jason Bean capped a drive of nearly eight minutes with a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. Spencer Schrader kicked field goals of 56 and 41 yards.
Jonathan Taylor, the Colts' feature running back, rushed four times for 15 yards before he departed. Demetric Felton broke away for a 40-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor held out all of his starters and the backups couldn't do much. They finished without a win in the preseason.
“Obviously, we don't play a lot of starters, but it's really good experience for guys we're going to be counting on in different parts of the season," he said. "Going 0-3 is not what we wanted, but I still think we get a lot out of it.”
Colts: Open the regular season at home Sept. 8 against Houston.
Bengals: Host New England in the season opener Sept. 8.