“I’m not going to talk any junk to him,” said Edmunds, re-signed by the Steelers three weeks ago after his release in the preseason by the Jaguars. “It’s rare (for Fitzpatrick not to be involved in turnovers), but teams avoid him. That’s the biggest thing. He’ll put himself in that position. I know he works hard, studies hard.”
That could change this week against the Colts.
Indianapolis second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson is last among NFL starters completing just 49.3 percent of his passes. He’s already had six passes intercepted and, according to Pro Football Focus, is second in the NFL with seven turnover-worthy throws.
But Richardson also leads the NFL in air yards per pass, as well, at 12.6 yards per attempt and 17.8 percent of his throws have been deep.
That’s Fitzpatrick’s realm.
“Our front has to be really good and solid versus the run,” said Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin. “We can keep (Fitzpatrick) back there to defend those big balls. It’s going to be a big challenge for us.”
Richardson will complete some of those deep throws. He has 191 passing yards on completions on his deep shots. And he can sling the ball deep downfield, trusting his arm and his receivers to run under the ball.
Wide receiver Alec Pierce leads the NFL in yards per catch at 25.0 and Colts pass catchers as a group average 16.1 yards per reception.
“He’s just an avatar of an athlete,” said Austin of Richardson. “And then obviously when you are talking about him running, he has the ability to — even as he’s moving a little bit off balance — to uncork a bomb. And so that’s always dangerous.
“So the thing we obviously preach with our guys is to make sure that they don’t relax at any time versus this guy. He has enough ability to avoid rushes, create some pace, and then also get the ball down the field.”
Edmunds has been inactive in each of his first two games since returning to the Steelers. But…
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