The Indianapolis Colts are benching second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson and turning to Joe Flacco as their starter with Richardson struggling and coming off an unusual episode Sunday in which he asked to come out of the game for one play because he was tired.

Flacco is expected to start Sunday night at the Minnesota Vikings, a person familiar with the situation confirmed Tuesday.

Richardson is the second quarterback chosen in the first four picks of last year’s NFL draft to be benched by his team this season. The Carolina Panthers benched Bryce Young, the top selection, in September, although Young regained the starting job last week after Andy Dalton suffered a sprained thumb in a car crash.

The Colts selected Richardson fourth, two spots after the Houston Texans chose quarterback C.J. Stroud. Stroud has become a standout for the Texans, but Young and Richardson have had issues.

Richardson has made six starts this season and is completing just 44.4 percent of his passes. He is the NFL’s 34th-rated passer, the lowest among qualifying quarterbacks. The 22-year-old completed just 10 of 32 passes in Sunday’s 23-20 loss at the Texans, which dropped the Colts to 4-4. He asked out of the game for one play, saying afterward that he had told Coach Shane Steichen he was tired.

“Tired,” Richardson said during his postgame news conference. “I ain’t gonna lie. That was a lot of running right there that I did. And I didn’t think I was going to be able to go that next play. So I just told Shane I needed a break right there.”

Steichen said after the game that Richardson “needed a breather,” adding: “He ran three times in a row, and it was third and long. We were going to hand the ball off.” He said then that the Colts would “keep working through the process” with Richardson and would “get it figured out.”

But Monday, Steichen said the Colts were “evaluating everything,” including their starting quarterback. Richardson was the starter “right now today,” Steichen said, seemingly leaving open the possibility that was about to change.

TEXANS: Houston receiver Stefon Diggs will miss the rest of the season after tearing the ACL in his right knee Sunday.

Diggs suffered the non-contact injury in the third quarter of Houston’s win over the Colts on Sunday. He was running a route and pulled up and grabbed at his right knee before falling to the ground.

The 30-year-old Diggs had 47 receptions for 496 yards and three touchdowns in eight games in his first season in Houston after a blockbuster trade from the Bills.

RAVENS: Baltimore acquired wide receiver Diontae Johnson and a sixth-round pick in 2025 from the Carolina Panthers for a 2025 fifth-rounder, according to numerous reports.

Johnson had been Carolina’s leading wide receiver since being acquired in an offseason trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers for cornerback Donte Jackson. Johnson has 30 receptions for 357 yards and three touchdowns for Carolina, but did not play in Sunday’s 28-14 loss to the Denver Broncos because of a rib injury.

The 28-year-old Johnson’s best season came in 2021 when he caught 107 passes for 1,161 yards with eight touchdowns for the Steelers.