INDIANAPOLIS — The first thing Gardner Minshew noticed on the newcomer was the arm strength, the way the ball jumped out of his hand.
The stuff that’s easy to see with Anthony Richardson.
The more time Minshew spent around Richardson in Florida this offseason, the more the veteran quarterback started noticing the traits the Colts coaching staff is seeing firsthand now.
The work ethic, the willingness to take criticism, the desire to be coached.
Minshew was a free agent back then, Richardson a draft hopeful beginning to capture the imagination of teams across the NFL.
The dots were easy to connect.
“You just start looking ahead, and you’re like, ‘Man, I would like to play for Shane,'” Minshew said, referring to then-freshly-hired Colts head coach Shane Steichen. “‘Man, they’re picking at four, they might pick a quarterback. This guy I’m working out with, he might be picked at four. Who knows?’”
Richardson and Minshew were working out on the same Florida fields because they shared a quarterback coach, Denny Thompson.
Thompson could see the same stars aligning, and he let the 20-year-old into his vision.
“Our trainers were like, ‘You guys might end up together, and if you guys did end up together, that would be good,'” Richardson said. “Now look at us.”
Few players in the locker room are as important for a rookie quarterback’s development as the veteran in charge of mentoring him. When Colts quarterbacks coach Cam Turner builds his position room, he starts by trying to make sure the three or four quarterbacks fit well together.
When the quarterbacks are at odds, the results can be disastrous.
Minshew has seen it firsthand.
“It’s huge, man,” Minshew said. “If you have a room that’s splintered or rooting against each other, it’s no fun for anybody, and it really pulls the team apart.”
Bringing the room together is a lot easier when the team’s top two quarterbacks already know each other.
“It definitely gives a jump start to the relationship,” Turner said.
Minshew’s attitude towards the situation helps.
The former Jaguars and Eagles quarterback is still only 27, a former starter. At that age, and with that kind of experience, Minshew could look at his Colts opportunity as a stepping stone to another shot at a starting job and keep Richardson at arm’s length, only helping the rookie when asked.
But Minshew has already been through this, signed in Philadelphia to back up Jalen Hurts while the Eagles quarterback developed into a star. Minshew knows what his primary role in Indianapolis is supposed to be, and his previous relationship with Steichen makes it easier for the veteran to understand the Colts’ offensive scheme and tutor Richardson in its finer points.
“Part of my role is trying to help him get comfortable,” Minshew said. “You want to help the room as much as you can — everybody that’s in it. We’ve got two younger guys, him and Sam (Ehlinger), so trying to help them out whenever I can, whether it’s learning the offense, or how to prepare for meetings, how to get ready for practice.”
Mentoring a young first-round pick requires an element of sacrifice from the backup.
A quarterback wants to show what he can do, but the reality is that a veteran backup on a team that just spent a top-five pick on a quarterback is likely going to lose his chance to start as soon as the rookie’s remotely ready. If Minshew does a good job helping develop Richardson, he could end up opening the season on the bench.
From Jim Irsay to Shane Steichen, Indianapolis has made it clear the team believes a rookie learns best by playing, and Richardson needs more reps after starting just one season at Florida. Minshew got a chance to start as a rookie; his experience taught him that taking game snaps is the best way to get better.
“The thing about quarterback, I think one of the only ways to get better is to play it,” Minshew said. “Going out there, seeing the sights, feeling the speed, that’s something you really can’t replicate in any other way. It’s huge just getting any type of experience; any type of game snaps is really, really important.”
Minshew might not know Richardson all that well yet.
But what he’s seen tells him that the rookie is going to soak up everything he can.
“I’m ready to learn from that guy,” Richardson said. “We already have a small relationship, but I’m looking forward to building on that.”
A quarterback trainer brought them together before either quarterback was a Colt.
Now, the two will have plenty of time to get to know each other inside and out.
This article originally appeared on the Indianapolis Star: Anthony Richardson’s history with Gardner Minshew can only help