Colts keeping open mind about Anthony Richardson and QB competition at training camp

WESTFIELD, Ind. (AP) — General manager Chris Ballard kept promising during the offseason that he'd hold a quarterback competition for the Indianapolis Colts starter in 2025.

He's certainly not changing now.

As players reported to training camp Tuesday, Ballard told reporters he anticipates watching a vigorous battle between incumbent starter Anthony Richardson and free agent acquisition Daniel Jones. Practice begins Wednesday at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana, a suburb on the northwest side of Indianapolis.

“It's important they get into (preseason) games and we'll play both of them, ” Ballard said. “I've told you all this before, but unfortunately growth does not happen through success; growth happens when you go through a lot of (stuff).”

Indy's top two quarterbacks certainly have been through plenty during their short NFL careers.

Since being taken No. 4 overall in the 2023 draft, Richardson has struggled to stay healthy. He's missed 19 of 34 games over the past two seasons, 17 with a variety of injuries and two when he was benched after taking himself out of a game last season because he admitted he needed a breather.

Richardson also missed Indy's three-day minicamp in June because of an injury to his throwing shoulder. While Richardson appears to be healthy for camp, Ballard said Indy likely would limit the number of throws in Westfield, Indiana, especially this week and next.

The other major concern is Richardson's accuracy.

Despite showing flashes of promise last season, the strong-armed former Florida star completed just 47.7% of his throws last season — the lowest rate among the NFL's regular starters. He's completed just 50.6% of his career passes.

But even as Ballard and third-year coach Shane Steichen opted for more competition, both have continued to believe Richardson eventually will fulfill the potential they saw in college.

“Do you think people regret Baker Mayfield's timeline? Sam Darnold's timeline?” Ballard said, referring to teams giving up too quickly on those quarterbacks. “So how about a little patience? You've got to have a little patience with a guy and let them grow through things. If you just know ‘This guy, no, he can't do it' ... but if you think, ‘Hey, he’s on the right trajectory' why are you going to flush him? I think we need to give Anthony every chance to be the best he can be.”

Steichen and the quarterbacks are scheduled to talk with reporters Wednesday.

The biggest concern for Jones has been consistency.

The No. 6 overall selection in the 2019 draft struggled early in his career with the New York Giants, but appeared to right things when he helped them reach the 2022 playoffs. New York rewarded Jones with a four-year, $160 million contract extension only to watch him struggle again.

He threw two TD passes in an injury-marred 2023 season and had eight TD passes and seven interceptions in 10 games last season before being benched and eventually released.

Jones finished the season in Minnesota, which let him leave in free agency.

“He's been through a lot,” Ballard said, referring to Jones. “Being in New York and the scrutiny of being a top-10 pick, it's not for everybody. But I thought he handled it with grace and class like you would expect, and that's who he is. Daniel's a very talented player, so it's going to be a fun competition to watch.”

It's unclear who holds the upper hand heading into camp or how the Colts intend to divvy up the snaps.

So Indy's top offensive playmakers — running back Jonathan Taylor and receiver Michael Pittman — are preparing to play with both.

“It's probably not what most teams are doing, but I mean you've got to do what you do,” Pittman said. "It's competition and that's the great thing about football is you compete every single year. So everybody's out here competing."

Ballard wouldn't say when he expects a decision on the starter.

But he knows the Colts will have a better chance of snapping a four-year playoff drought if they have a clear-cut winner before the Sept. 7 opener against Miami — and if that winner stays healthy.

“We have the one position we all know — we have to get the quarterback settled,” Ballard said. “That position is so important to the state of your team when you've got that position solidified. Look, it's one of 53 and it's not all about him, but he's an important piece.”

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Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard discusses the team before the start of the NFL football team's training camp in Westfield, Ind., Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

FILE - Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones (17) as Anthony Richardson Sr. looks on during practice at NFL football minicamp in Indianapolis, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drones blasted apartment buildings and the power grid in the southern Ukraine city of Odesa in an overnight attack that injured six people, including a toddler and two other children, officials said Wednesday.

Four apartment buildings were damaged in the bombardment, according to regional military administration head Oleh Kiper. Power company DTEK said two of its energy facilities suffered significant damage. The company said that 10 substations that distribute electricity in the Odesa region were damaged in December alone.

Russia has this year escalated its long-range attacks on urban areas of Ukraine. In recent months, as Russia’s invasion of its neighbor approaches its four-year milestone in February, it has also intensified its targeting of energy infrastructure, seeking to deny Ukrainians heat and running water in the bitter winter months.

From January to November this year, more than 2,300 Ukrainian civilians were killed and more than 11,000 were injured, the United Nations said earlier this month. That was 26% higher than in the same period in 2024 and 70% higher than in 2023, it said.

Russia’s sustained drone and missile attacks have taken place against backdrop of renewed diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting.

U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Florida resort on Sunday and announced that a settlement is “closer than ever before." The Ukrainian leader is due to hold talks next week with the heads of European governments supporting his efforts to secure acceptable terms.

The ongoing attacks, meantime, are inflaming tensions.

The overnight Odesa strikes “are further evidence of the enemy’s terror tactics, which deliberately target civilian infrastructure,” Kiper, the regional head, said.

Moscow has alleged that Ukraine attempted to attack Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence in northwestern Russia with 91 long-range drones late Sunday and early Monday. Ukrainian officials deny the claim and say it’s a ruse to derail progress in the peace negotiations.

Maj. Gen. Alexander Romanenkov of the Russian air force claimed Wednesday that the drones took off from Ukraine’s Sumy and Chernihiv regions.

At a briefing where no questions were allowed, he presented a map showing the drone flight routes before they were downed by Russian air defenses over the Bryansk, Tver, Smolensk and Novgorod regions.

It was not possible to independently verify the reports.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, on Wednesday called the Russian allegations “a deliberate distraction” from the peace talks.

“No one should accept unfounded claims from the aggressor who has indiscriminately targeted Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilians since the start of the war,” Kallas posted on X.

Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Romania and Croatia are the latest countries to join a fund that buys weapons for Ukraine from the United States. The financial arrangement, known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL, pools contributions from NATO members, except the United States, to purchase American weapons, munitions and equipment.

Since it was established in August, 24 countries are now contributing to the fund, according to Zelenskyy. The fund has so far received $4.3 billion, with almost $1.5 billion coming in December alone, he said on social media.

Ukraine’s air force said Wednesday that Russia fired 127 drones at the country during the night, with 101 of them intercepted by air defenses.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said that 86 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over Russian regions, the Black Sea and the illegally annexed Crimea peninsula.

The Ukrainian attack started a fire at an oil refinery in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, but it was quickly put out, local authorities said.

This story has corrected the day of the alleged Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian president’s residence to late Sunday and early Monday.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this image made from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, a Russian Army soldier fires from D-30 howitzer towards Ukrainian positions in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)