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The Colts' Daniel Jones experiment is off to a predictable start

Prince J. Grimes   For The Win

The Indianapolis Colts knew Anthony Richardson was raw when they drafted him.

For all the physical tools the 6-4, 250-pound quarterback possessed, he lacked experience. After one season as a starter at Florida, it was never going to be smooth sailing as he attempted to learn on the fly in the NFL.

That's what made Indy's decision to bring in "competition" for Richardson this offseason so confusing. Were they actually giving up on their 23-year-old former No. 4 overall pick after just 15 starts? Did they not brace for the always likely scenario that he wouldn't be immediately great? Bringing in someone to challenge Richardson had disaster written all over it -- because what if that someone actually won the battle? Where would the team go from there?

Those questions became a little less pressing after the first day of Colts training camp Wednesday. We got a swift reminder about who the "competition" is, and... well, the joke's on us. The new question is why on earth did anyone ever think Daniel Jones was an actual threat to Richardson?

On second thought, why did the Colts think that? Actually, are we sure they ever did?

Listen, I know it's not wise to judge any player off one practice, especially not the first practice of camp. And by all accounts, Jones wasn't bad -- though he may not have been good either. The IndyStar described Day 1 as a "mixed bag" for both quarterbacks. But let's be clear about something; Jones isn't any player (especially not to me, a Giants fan who's very familiar with these bags 'o mixed results). We've seen his movies before. Jones will always have a few positive plays -- like this deep ball to Anthony Gould -- offset by some really bad lows -- like his late throw intercepted by Kenny Moore II.

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That's Daniel Jones. We have six years of tape as confirmation. And what he has to offer was never going to be enough to supplant Richardson in Indy, where the fans remain incredibly high on his potential and are making their voices heard at camp. As they should. It's still too early to know what Richardson is or will be.

I'm guessing the Colts know that too. That's why they brought in Jones. He was the perfect quarterback to give Richardson the impression of a competition without actually threatening to take his job. If I'm wrong, Jones has about a month to prove it before the team officially names a starter for Week 1 against the Dolphins.

Oh no, Jets

There's no quarterback competition in New York where Justin Fields is slated to start for the Jets, but the team might still be battling bad luck.

Fields was carted to the locker room Thursday morning with a lower leg injury and... yikes.

Head coach Aaron Glenn did deliver a bit of good news on this front, saying it was a toe injury for Fields, but this remains a nightmare scenario for Jets fans who remember all too well what happened the last time they brought in a veteran quarterback to stabilize the franchise. And after all Fields has been through to get back into a position to prove himself, you can only hope the injury isn't too significant.

If Fields does have to miss time, Christian D'Andrea has you covered on New York's backup and where the team goes from here.

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It's been real, y'all. We'll be back with more next week.

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