WESTFIELD, Ind. -- The Indianapolis Colts vowed long ago to allow the quarterback battle between Anthony Richardson Sr. and Daniel Jones to play out as long as necessary.
"I think it all matters, it all counts," coach Shane Steichen said. "Every rep matters. Every walkthrough matters. Every meeting matters. It all matters. So, everything's being evaluated."
But after more than three weeks of training camp -- the Colts wrapped up following Thursday's joint practice with the Green Bay Packers -- there does not appear to be obvious separation between the two players heading into Saturday's preseason matchup with Green Bay.
"These guys are both good players that have played good football in this league, and we expected them to come out and compete really, really hard," offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. "We expected competition to bring out the best in both of them, and that's what we're seeing."
Steichen hasn't indicated when he hopes to reach a decision, leaving the Colts as the rare NFL team that still hasn't determined a starter at its most important position after training camp. Indianapolis is one of just three teams this season that hasn't yet named a starting quarterback, joining the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints.
"I'm excited to see whoever they choose back there," receiver Josh Downs said. "I've seen growth from each."
The starter remains undecided, but here's what was established during training camp: The Colts have two very different quarterbacks whose strengths and weaknesses were further solidified during the weeks of work they put in.
They've seen Richardson show significant strides in the areas where he's struggled most, like his short and intermediate accuracy and relatedly, his once-sloppy footwork. That resulted in better overall efficiency from Richardson and are welcome developments after he finished last season with a league-low 47.7% completion rate. He's completed numerous throws against tight coverage that had teammates and coaches buzzing.
"You've got to throw those tight-window throws in this league," Steichen said.
Richardson has also shown himself to be a better decision-maker, generally avoiding alarming interceptions during camp. That was a source of concern last season, when he had a league-high interception rate of 4.5%. There seemed to be organization-wide agreement that this was Richardson's best camp since he was selected fourth overall by the Colts in 2023.
#Colts Quenton Nelson talking about Daniel Jones & Anthony Richardson after Sunday's practice. Says Richardson's having his best camp ever. pic.twitter.com/FLPwwQwwet
— Jared Koch (@jjaredkoch) August 11, 2025
But training camp still showed Richardson to be somewhat boom-or-bust. He routinely showed the big arm that allowed him to lead the NFL in air yards per attempt in 2024 (11.4). However, Richardson also had the occasional inexplicable miss on easy throws, leading to a handful of days in camp when he completed fewer than 50% of his attempts in 11-on-11 action.
It wasn't remotely close to his 2024 performance, when he was considered "off-target" on more than 25% of his attempts -- easily higher than the second-worst player in that area, the Chicago Bears' Caleb Williams (21%). But it was enough that his accuracy could remain an issue for his coaches.
It also didn't help that Richardson misread a blitz in the Colts' preseason opener against Baltimore that resulted in him taking a brutal hit from an unblocked defender, leaving Richardson with a dislocated pinkie on his throwing hand.
On the other end of the spectrum, there's Jones.
He was more consistently accurate through camp, as one would expect seeing how his career completion rate of 64.1% is more than 13 points higher than Richardson's. Jones has still not mastered the Colts' offense, given his recent arrival in free agency in March. But his veteran status showed, as he seemed to have good command of the scheme despite being in his first season in the system.
But when Jones pushed the ball downfield, results were usually sporadic. This is perhaps not surprising for a player who has been mostly conservative as a passer during his career. Jones was 35th among quarterbacks in yards per attempt (6.1) in the 10 games he started with the New York Giants last season. The league average last season was 7.3.
To put Jones' passing into perspective, consider the following: Jones completed 90 more passes than Richardson last season. Still, he totaled just 256 more passing yards.
In the end, while the two quarterbacks offer different styles, the unanswered question is whether they'll produce vastly different results.
Interestingly, there's one area where their past statistical production is largely the same. Jones and Richardson ranked 25th and 29th in QBR last season, which suggests there might not be much discernible difference between the overall outcomes of their performances.
So, who's winning this battle? Who knows. But the Colts are resting their hopes on the competition bringing out each player's best -- no matter who winds up with the job.
"It hasn't been perfect," Cooter said. "We get our pluses and our minuses.
"But I think it is raising the level of each of them."