Is Richardson turning into another injury-plagued Andrew Luck? Say it ain't so -- please

The Colts rookie quarterback has played two NFL games; he's been knocked out of both. This brings back some memories, and none of them are good.

MY COUCH, Ind. – Indianapolis can’t go through this again. The fan base suffered as Andrew Luck dealt with one injury after another after another, the sum total of all those issues conspiring to send him into early retirement at the tender age of 29. We too clearly remember the hits he took – both in the pocket and outside of it —and the way his recklessness combined with shoddy protection left him in tatters after seven seasons.  

Now comes Anthony Richardson, the great hope for the future, the young man who is being counted upon to help the Colts dismount the quarterback carousel for another decade or more, failing to finish his second straight game because of an injury.

Is anybody else having horrifying flashbacks?

A week ago, Richardson hurt his ankle early in the Jacksonville game and his knee was bruised late, forcing him off the field in the waning moments. (Shane Steichen did say he could have returned, if necessary). The Monday after the game, Richardson spent a lot of time in treatment to address those injuries, acknowledging Wednesday that he felt some aches and pains post-game he'd never experienced before in his young football life.

Then in Sunday’s impressive 31-20 victory over the Houston Texans, it happened again; this time, it was a concussion, which he suffered when the back of his head slammed into the turf after he was throttled while scoring his second rushing touchdown of the day in the first quarter. Everybody missed it – Shane Steichen, the independent neurologist on scene, everybody.