This time, Steichen and the Colts tap out on Richardson. And it makes absolutely no sense.

Flacco will start and will likely remain the starter as long as he's healthy. Which accomplishes...what? Wasn't this supposed to be about developing AR? Apparently not.

Be patient, they told us. Be ready for some inconsistencies, some bad football. Be prepared to stick it out with Anthony Richardson, who started just 12 college games and threw fewer than 400 passes at the University of Florida. As team owner Jim Irsay said last summer before Indy selected The Project with the fourth pick in the draft. “Once you make this choice, there’s not going to be an exit ramp for a while…”

Right. Ten games. Ten stinking games, five of which Richardson didn’t even finish.

Hello, exit ramp.

This, friends, is organizational malpractice and incompetence.

What did Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard continually say time and time again? “He’s got to play to improve. It’s all about reps.”

Well, apparently not.

“I know I said that, and things changed there,” Steichen said Wednesday. “I think right now, sitting back and seeing a veteran that’s done it at a high level for a long time, you can develop that way as well.”

Ballard talks a lot about never flinching. The Colts flinched. Big time, they flinched.

Now, with the Colts at 4-4 and heading into the roughest stretch of the season, Richardson is being replaced by Joe Flacco, and it makes absolutely no sense. Not in the short term – what, they’ll finish a game over .500 and maybe make the playoffs, at which point they’ll be rudely eliminated? – and certainly not in the long term. Steichen made it clear Wednesday: This is not a one-game deal. Flacco is the quarterback “moving forward,” which sounds to me like he’ll be the guy as long as he stays healthy. Steichen also insisted the change had nothing to do with Sunday’s third-quarter tap-out in Houston, which certainly sat poorly with Richardson’s teammates. Ryan Kelly, one of the team’s unofficial spokesmen, made it clear Monday: This was not acceptable.