Anthony Richardson takes snaps with Colts starters as Daniel Jones does position group work

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Backup quarterback Anthony Richardson took snaps with the Indianapolis Colts starters while Daniel Jones stuck to the positional group stuff Wednesday.

It may not be Indy's ideal combination or even a likely one heading into the Sept. 13 season opener.

But just seeing the injury-prone Richardson and Jones working on the same practice field created some semblance of stability at a position that’s been anything but for the Colts lately.

A lot has changed from 12 months ago when the two first-round draft picks were competing for Indy's starting job.

Jones returns this year as the clear-cut starter while Richardson, once considered the potential franchise quarterback, finds himself battling Riley Leonard for the No. 2 job — and to stay with the team that drafted him No. 4 overall in 2023.

“Him (Richardson) and Riley will compete,” Colts coach Steve Steichen said after workouts. "We’ll flip the reps every other day. I mean, they get the same reps with the ones and the twos every day through OTAs. it’s 50/50. They're competing just like everyone’s competing. We’ve got certain guys competing at certain spots and that’s one of the positions they are competing at.”

Jones understands what Richardson is going through.

When the New York Giants drafted him No. 6 overall in 2019, the former Duke star was supposed to be the Giants' long-time solution at quarterback. In his fourth season, Jones took the Giants to the playoffs and was rewarded with a big contract.

Two years later, he was benched, then asked for his release, signed with the Minnesota Vikings and eventually landed in Indy last season.

Naturally, the Colts are playing it safe with their biggest offseason investment as Jones continues to recover from a broken bone in his left leg and a torn right Achilles tendon. The injuries derailed his season. He re-signed with Indy in March, agreeing to a two-year deal worth $88 million and a chance to push the total to as much as $100 million — if he continues to stay healthy and play at last season's level.

Jones started throwing before the draft, but Wednesday marked the first time reporters saw him on a field since he suffered the Achilles tendon injury Dec. 7 at Jacksonville.

“I think you’ve got to be realistic and understand the body’s got to heal,” Jones said, still hopeful of playing in Week 1 against Baltimore. “There’s a process to it. And you try to focus on kind of what the next goal is and understand what the long-term goal is, but you focus on the more immediate short-term next milestone that you’re trying to accomplish.”

Richardson, meanwhile, wasn't even supposed to be here in late May.

Richardson appeared in just four games as a rookie because of a shoulder injury, completing just 47.7% of his throws in Year 2 and losing the starting job to Jones last year. Then the injury-prone Richardson fractured an orbital bone in a freak pregame stretching incident and never took another snap.

In February, the Colts gave Richardson and his agent permission to find a trade partner. So far, though, nothing has materialized so after skipping the first round of Colts workouts, Richardson returned. The strong-armed, more slender-looking Richardson now seems content with whatever happens in Indy, which did not exercise the fifth-year extension on Richardson's rookie contract.

“I signed a contract, so I’m still on this team regardless of the trade stuff,” he said. "I’ve got an obligation to this team to come out here and play and perform and be ready to play if they need me. I don’t think it’s weird or awkward. I’m not really focused on (the trade) right now, I’m here, I’m just trying to make sure I’m staying healthy and keeping everything up there in the mind sharp.”

The bigger questions for the Colts are when will Jones be ready to play and will Richardson still be around when the season begins.

Steichen said Jones' recovery is on schedule, maybe slightly ahead of schedule.

“Next week, I might get him into some seven on seven,” Steichen said. "We’ll look into that, and see how this week goes, but he’s doing really good.”

As for Richardson, he's more cautious.

“Right now he’s here,” Steichen said. "Obviously, he hasn’t rescinded the trade, but he’s engaged, he’s in the meetings and he’s competing for a job.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. (5) throws at the NFL football team's practice in Indianapolis, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones (17) throws at the NFL football team's practice in Indianapolis, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones (17) throws during the NFL football team's practice in Indianapolis, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

A South Carolina jury heard opening statements Wednesday in the trial of a store owner charged with murder in the 2023 fatal shooting of a Black 14-year-old, which a prosecutor called unprovoked and a defense lawyer insisted was an act of defense.

Chikei Rick Chow, 61, who is Asian, shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back during a foot chase in Columbia, believing — wrongly, prosecutors say — that he had stolen four bottles of water from the gas station convenience store. The killing sent waves of anguish and grief through the African American community in Richland County, where nearly half the population is Black.

While prosecutors acknowledge Carmack-Belton had a semiautomatic pistol, they say it fell on the ground during the chase and he never threatened anyone with it. But defense lawyers said the teen pointed the pistol at Chow's son, Andy, and Chow fired one shot in his son's defense. Chow had a concealed weapons permit.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what is the value of a human life?” prosecutor Byron E. Gipson asked. “To grieving parents who lost a 14-year-old to senseless acts of violence, a human life is priceless.”

Gipson added: "But on May 28, 2023, Chikei Rick Chow, the defendant in this case, determined that Cyrus Carmack-Belton's life was worth less than four bottles of water.”

Gipson then tried to cast doubt on Chow's claim of defending his son.

“In what world do you get to falsely accuse a 14-year-old of stealing, chase a 14-year-old 130-plus yards down a road while you’re armed with a pistol, shoot that person in the back, then claim you’re defending your son?” he said, calling the shooting “senseless” and “heinous.”

Defense lawyer Jack Swerling began his opening statements questioning why the teen was carrying a pistol equipped with a laser sight around the streets of Columbia.

“If he didn’t have that weapon, he never would have had a weapon to draw on Andy Chow," Swerling said. "He never would have had a weapon to put Andy Chow in danger. And he never would have had a weapon that would cause Mr. Chow to believe his son was going to be shot and have to make a split-second decision — a split-second decision — as to whether or not to go ahead and fire that gun and protect his son.”

Afterward, Chow performed CPR on Carmack-Belton, which Swerling said helps prove Chow acted without malice — a required element of a murder charge in South Carolina.

“Nobody’s saying everybody’s happy about this, but unfortunately there are occasions in human life when someone has to exercise that right of self-defense or defense of others," Swerling said. “It’s sad. It's tragic. There’s no question about that."

Chow sat between his lawyers at the defense table, wearing a dark suit, white-collared shirt and no tie with his legs shackled, occasionally writing on a notepad.

Operating a business was a dream for Chikei Rick Chow, Swerling said. Chow was born in Hong Kong and his wife was born in Malaysia. Both became U.S. citizens and had two sons, he said.

Protesters came to Chow’s store the day after the shooting demanding justice and saying Chow mistreated Black customers. Police records showed he shot at shoplifters twice in the past eight years but did not face charges after investigators said he acted in self-defense. After the protests, Chow’s store was vandalized and broken into and cigarettes and beer were stolen, police said.

After opening statements, a police officer who responded to the shooting was the first witness to take the stand in the trial that is expected to last several days.

Witness Lori Carson testified that she saw Carmack-Belton running away from the store with Chow and his son in pursuit. She said she never saw a gun or anything else in the teen's hands.

“He just looked frightened, scared. He looked like he needed help," Carson said of the teen. "Just like a young child just in trouble, just needed help.”

She said that after they ran down the street, she saw Chow in a shooting position while the teen was on the ground. She became emotional as she described trying to help Carmack-Belton by removing leaves from his mouth while Chow performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Authorities said the shooting happened about 130 yards (120 meters) from the store. A gun was found near Carmack-Belton's body, but investigators have said there is no evidence the teen ever directed the firearm at Chow or his son.

Carmack-Belton had entered the store about 8 p.m. and quickly drew suspicion from the Chows, prosecutors said. He took four water bottles out of a cooler but put them back, they said. He got into an argument with the Chows and denied their allegations of stealing, then left the store, authorities said.

FILE - A sign calling for justice is for Cyrus Carmack-Belton is seen outside a gas station June 1, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins, File)