Team news: Indianapolis Colts

Colts QB Anthony Richardson suffered an orbital fracture during pregame warmups before Indy’s game against the Cardinals Sunday.

Head coach Shane Steichen told reporters the news after the game. This explains the Colts making Richardson inactive Sunday and having Riley Leonard backing up Daniel Jones. Richardson reportedly suffered the injury in the locker room during to a malfunctioning piece of apparatus. Richardson was taken to the hospital. The Colts won, 31-27, to improve to 5-1.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor told reporters on Monday that the team would evaluate its options at quarterback after Jake Browning’s struggles while filling in for the injured Joe Burrow.

According to multiple reports, the Bengals have agreed to acquire Joe Flacco from the Browns.

Related players: Brett Rypien, Dillon Gabriel, Shedeur Sanders, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins

Cincinnati will receive Flacco and a sixth-round pick in exchange for a fifth-round pick to complete the rare intra-AFC North trade. We just reported a story earlier today saying if the Bengals do make a change, it will be a QB from outside team who gets the start. Flacco should give the Bengals a steadier option at the position until Burrow is able to return in December. The story pointed out, it's unclear just how long it may take Flacco to get up to speed and if the team will push him to start this week. We'll likely learn more about that as the week goes on.

In all likelihood, the quarterback capable of breathing life into the Bengals’ season isn’t on the roster.

Current backup Brett Rypien and practice squad quarterbacks Sean Clifford and Mike White are not in consideration to replace Browning this weekend against the Packers.

Any options left open to, theoretically, replace Jake Browning in Green Bay would have to come from outside the building.

Related players: Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston

Reports Tuesday say the team has released White, which could be an indication a new face is on the way in. Three of the bigger names to be stop-gaps until Joe Burrow returns are Cousins, Wilson and Winston, but it remains to be seen if the Bengals pull the trigger and make a deal. The Bengals are hoping to stay in the hunt until Burrow returns and the talent is still there on offense. It also looks like Browning has another chance this week to keep his starting spot.

The Colts had a lot to smile about after a 40-6 win over the Raiders on Sunday, but one down note involved kicker Spencer Shrader.

Shrader got hit while kicking an extra point in the second quarter of the game and had to be helped off the field due to a knee injury. He was ruled out a short time later and head coach Shane Steichen’s limited update on his condition suggests he’s going to be out of action for a while.

“It doesn’t look good, but I don’t have the full update,” Steichen said, via the team’s website.

Shrader made 13 field goals in September, the story pointed out, but the Colts look like they will be in need of a new kicker heading into Week 6.

Bengals coach Zac Taylor sounded open to the possibility of a quarterback change after Jake Browning struggled again in a 37-24 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday.

Taylor said he plans to evaluate why the offense struggled in a third straight defeat. Browning threw three interceptions before he led the Bengals to three touchdowns in the final quarter to trim the final margin.

"After a game like that, we're going to look at all personnel to make sure we're doing the right thing," Taylor said when asked if he still believes in Browning moving forward. "I won't shy away from that because it's a very fair question after the amount of turnovers that we had."

Related players: Brett Rypien, Mike White, Sean Clifford

As the story pointed out, Browning was 26-of-40 passing for 251 yards, 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. But all three TDs and 133 of those yards came in the fourth quarter, after Cincinnati was walloped early for a third consecutive week. The list of QBs behind Browning aren't impressive but the team may be desperate for any kind of spark so be sure to monitor this situation this week if you play in deep superflex or multiple QB leagues.

The Colts are ruling out WR Alec Pierce, CB Kenny Moore II, RB Tyler Goodson and S Daniel Scott.

Pierce is a bit of a surprise seeing how he's been practicing, but he did not pass the concussion protocol, according to Shane Steichen. That's his second straight game.

Related Players: Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs

In a follow-up question with Shane Steichen, he said "working through that" regarding Adonai Mitchell playing this week, which is all the more interesting with Pierce out. It's possible we see a condensed target tree with Pittman, Downs, and Tyler Warren taking the vast majority of the work. Pittman is a WR2 candidate, Warren an obvious TE1 and Downs would move up into a WR4 role for managers searching for WR help.

The Colts ruled out WR Alec Pierce (concussion) for Sunday's game vs. the Rams.

Related Players: Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, Adonai Mitchell

Pierce has been the main beneficiary of Daniel Jones' deep ball, racking up an 18.8 aDOT and 171 yards through three games. Adonai Mitchell should absorb some of that work, but it's still not enough to plug him into any but the deepest fantasy lineups.

Colts WR Alec Pierce is in concussion protocol.

Related players: Josh Downs, Adonai Mitchell, Michael Pittman, Tyler Warren

It's a bit of a hit for the Colts red-hot offense. Pierce had a 4-67-0 line in Week 3, and given the trend of players having to miss a week after getting placed in protocol, we have to maybe lean toward Pierce not being able to go in Week 4. It will be worth keeping an eye on the injury report this week. Downs and Warren could see more targets if Pierce is out for Week 4.

Bengals also are signing QB Mike White to their practice squad, per source.

So both White and Sean Clifford added to Cincinnati’s practice squad.

Related players: Jake Browning, Brett Rypien

After Joe Burrow injured his toe and will be out at least three months, the Bengals are stocking up on quarterbacks. Browning will take over the starting job and can be picked up in just about any format. Rypien will likely be the number-two with White and Clifford taking on the insurance roles.

With Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy reportedly out up to four weeks due to a sprained ankle, Carson Wentz becomes the next man up.

At some point over the next month, will undrafted rookie Max Brosmer become the next man in?

Brosmer, the only one of three backups throughout the offseason program and training camp to make it to the 53-man roster (Sam Howell and Brett Rypien are gone), played at the University of Minnesota last season.

The story added the Vikings love Brosmer, but he's currently not ready to take over the position. However, the Vikings could turn to him at some point if Wentz can't take advantage of his chances. The story also mentioned the team could make a move for another QB as well. A familiar name in Kirk Cousins was mentioned specifically in the story. This whole situation could be a very interesting one, especially if Wentz happens to struggle early.