Jim Bob Cooter: I think Anthony Richardson, Daniel Jones are eager to compete

Throughout the offseason, several members of the Colts have said that the QB competition between 2023 No. 4 overall pick Anthony Richardson and recent free-agent signee Daniel Jones should bring the best out of everyone.

While the Colts have not formalized a timeline for when they’ll decide on a starter, things have started brewing during the club’s offseason program.

“Yeah, those guys are, I think, eager to compete,” offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said in a Wednesday press conference. “[C]ompetition kind of makes us all better. Got an opportunity to go out there and get some reps, and go through our process. Whether you’re hearing it for the first time or hearing it for the 10th time, spring is always a good time of year to dive back into the details in the quarterback room, especially, and kind of make sure you’re in lockstep with what we’re doing offensively, and that can give you the best chance to go succeed. So those guys are putting in good work here, and it’s going to be fun to watch.”

This will be Cooter’s third season working alongside Richardson as the Colts’ OC, so he’s familiar with how the young quarterback is trying to elevate his game.

“I think that’s natural for a quarterback as they go through their NFL career, to find aspects of their game to refine, especially in the offseason,” Cooter said. “One year it’s footwork, one year it’s something else — these guys are really, really on top of their craft. I think that’s just a part of Anthony’s sort of work habits in the offseason, what he’s looking to get better, working to improve. This is a good time of year, you guys aren’t out there shooting cameras at them, so they can work on anything they need to work on and sort of try to fine tune it.”

As for Jones, Cooter said the 27-year-old passer has been doing a good job of going about his business in learning the offense.

“We’re asking a lot of that quarterback room to try to put them in the best position to have success in the spring, and then this upcoming season. He’s tackling that assignment head on,” Cooter said. “[W]e’ve only been out there a few days with these guys throwing, but he’s looking good out there throwing the ball around and moving around. Obviously, with a quarterback coming into any sort of new offense where even just the cadence is a little bit different, the way you call a play is a little bit different, maybe the way a coaching staff asks you to read a pass is different than you have in your past.

“There’s a lot of information that quarterbacks have to sort of manage and process and go through, and he’s doing a great job of that right now, but we’re going to keep piling installs up on these guys. We’re teaching them a lot of information this time of year, so it’s going to keep coming at him. But he’s doing a great job right now, sort of day in, day out attacking each day and trying to get better.”

We’ll see over the coming months which quarterback between Richardson and Jones will separate himself to become the club’s Week 1 starter.