The Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals will square off in their final preseason game this Thursday night. It used to be customary for the starters to sit out the preseason finale, but with the new 17-game schedule, clubs now have one fewer preseason game to contend with, therefore some teams may not always choose to rest their starters.
In a Tuesday media conference, Colts head coach Shane Steichen revealed how many minutes the starting lineup will play on Thursday. According to Steichen, his starters will continue to play into the second half.
The quarterback, who is thought to be the most important player on the field, occasionally gets a break while the starters play. This time, though, that won’t be the case because Steichen made it clear that Anthony Richardson would be suiting up and playing on Thursday night alongside the other starters.
The bright side is that this should give the starting lineup more time to acclimate to one another and perhaps get them ready for the opening game of the regular season against the rapidly improving Texans. The unfortunate news is that it clearly raises the possibility of a key player or starter suffering an injury before to the start of the regular season.
Nevertheless, it’s obvious that Steichen wants more from his guys.
In the event that it matters, the Bengals are following the custom of sitting their starters in the preseason finale. Zac Taylor, the head coach of the Bengals, stated on Tuesday that resting the starters was the idea.
Hopefully, on Thursday, the Colts can go out there and promptly end the game without injuring anyone after cooking the Bengals’ reserves.
