INDIANAPOLIS — Just like that, Riley Leonard’s Sunday afternoon at the office changed.
In the blink of an eye — or to be more precise, when Anthony Richardson Sr. suffered an eye injury during pre-game warm-ups — the Indianapolis Colts’ rookie quarterback saw his role altered from inactive/emergency QB to Daniel Jones’ backup.
“I’m thinking, ‘Is (Richardson) OK?’’’ Leonard said after the Colts’ 31-27 win over the Arizona Cardinals at Lucas Oil Stadium. “Obviously, I’m one play away instead of two plays away.
“I don’t know if there’s something written on how you should go about that situation.’’
It became a situation when Richardson, who lost the starting job to Jones during training camp, suffered a fractured orbital bone when a resistance band he was working with prior to the game snapped and hit him in the eye. That required a trip to the hospital.
Coach Shane Steichen was uncertain how much time Richardson might miss. There’s a chance general manager Chris Ballard searches for a veteran quarterback to serve as Jones’ backup.
Until then, it’s Leonard. The sixth-round draft pick has been running the scout team during the week and soaking up as much knowledge as possible from Jones and Richardson.
“It’s pretty tough, but fortunately the guys do a great job of just keeping me up to date,’’ he said. “There’s not really much information Daniel gets that I end up (not) getting throughout the week. We’re always together, being coached the same regardless.
“I’m not physically getting the reps, but, shoot, I love running the scout team. I’ll take any reps I can during practice.’’
Sunday proved that every backup — or No. 3 at a position — must be ready for even the strangest of things to occur during a game.
“I guess it really doesn’t hit you until it does,’’ Leonard said. “I mean, there’s a human nature inside to everything. You’re thinking, ‘alright, you’re third-string quarterback. Not even active going into the game.’ Probably starts to get into your mind a little bit.
“But you just can’t live like that. Obviously, I’d love to play. That’s why I work every day. I want to get on the field. That’s certainly not the way that I would have drawn it up in any circumstance.
“But here we are, one play away.’’
Steichen admitted the pregame issues were beyond unusual. Along with losing Richardson, the Colts saw cornerback Charvarius Ward suffer a concussion when he ran into tight end Drew Ogletree during a warmup period.
“That was very interesting to say the least,’’ he said. “We had to kind of rally the troops there in the locker room and get us back into focus.
“I thought our guys did that the right way.’’
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.
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