Why Anthony Richardson is going to miss the rest of the season (sorry fantasy managers)

On October 8th, 2023, during a matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans, Colts rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson left the game with an apparent shoulder injury, which was later revealed to be a shoulder A/C joint sprain. A pretty severe one at that.

The AC joint, or the Acromioclavicular Joint, is a joint in the shoulder that connects the collarbone (clavicle) to the shoulder blade (scapula). The AC joint is made up of many small ligaments and tendons, making it similar in a sense to the ankle. This joint allows for shoulder movements to occur, including those particularly useful to running backs. When discussing a sprained AC joint, you are talking about damage to the ligaments making up the joint. AC joint sprains, like all sprains, can range from mild (slight stretching of the ligaments) to severe (full tearing of the ligaments), with mild sprains simply requiring some therapy and severe sprains requiring surgery.

Here on the MedBook, we've covered an A/C joint sprain, as during the preseason, we covered the injury of Miami Dolphins rookie running back De'Von Achane. However, while the injuries are the same for both Achane and Richardson, their impacts are very different. While the injury didn't affect Achane too much and simply caused him to rest to let the joint heal, the injury presents a very different situation for Anthony Richardson.

Firstly, the injury occurred in Richardson's throwing shoulder, which is a huge factor. You see, the AC joint is an important joint in throwing a football, so the fact that he sustained a serious AC joint sprain is extremely detrimental to his throwing.

Secondly, we've seen this NFL season a similar type of injury: New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr sustained an AC joint sprain in the 4th quarter of a Week 3 NFL matchup against the Green Bay Packers; albeit, his AC joint injury was much less severe. However, even though it was a mild injury, it was reported by the media that Carr was in a lot of pain when he attempted to throw the ball. And while he returned the next week to play, he just hasn't looked as sharp as he did pre-injury this season. And perhaps even more concerning? Since getting hurt, his team is 1-2, with ugly losses to the Buccaneers and the Texans. Overall, since returning from his AC joint injury, Derek Carr hasn't looked too good. And keep in mind, this is with a mild injury.

Anthony Richardson has it pretty bad. Safe to say, his season is effectively screwed. Simply put, he cannot throw. With Derek Carr, it only took a mild injury to make it very difficult for him to throw, so imagine the near-impossibility there is for Richardson to throw with a severely damaged AC joint. According to recent reports by the NFL media, the injury is so severe that it might require surgery, which would definitely end Richardson's season.

But even if he didn't need surgery, would he realistically return?

Hell no. The Indianapolis Colts know that they have a generational talent in Richardson, so they will be very careful with him. And that could just be benching him for the rest of the season. It would be a smart move to do, as it would allow Richardson to not only recover from his injury but get his body acclimated to the high-speed nature of the NFL.

So yeah, don't make any bets on Anthony Richardson to return. It's pretty safe to say that, at this point in time, Anthony Richardson will miss the rest of the 2023-2024 NFL Season.