Anthony Richardson is out to prove himself yet again when Colts and Lions square off

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Richardson looked like a different quarterback when he returned to the Indianapolis Colts' starting lineup last week.

He consistently connected with open receivers. He appeared to be in command and he ran with authority.

Now, last year's No. 4 overall draft pick wants to show doubters the best game of his pro career was no fluke with an encore performance he hopes will change his long-term image.

“The main thing is just being consistent, just trusting my guys each and every play, trusting the play call each and every play, and then just trusting the preparation,” Richardson said. "It's just putting in the work throughout the week and letting it show out on the field on Sundays.”

That formula worked perfectly against the reeling New York Jets when the NFL's least accurate starting quarterback completed 20 of 30 passes, threw for one touchdown and ran for two more including the decisive score on Indy's final possession.

It was a major change from the guy who had completed just 44.4% of his passes while throwing four TD passes and seven interceptions.

This week, the stakes get higher and the challenge tougher with Detroit.

The Lions (9-1) are off to their best start since 1934, own the NFC's best record, have a league-high eight-game winning streak and the league's highest-scoring team has topped the 40-point mark in half of those eight wins.

All of it would seem to put the Colts (5-6) under pressure to score points by the dozens. But the unflappable Richardson dismisses such a notion.

“If you see it like that, there’s definitely an edge of you trying to push and do a little bit more,” Richardson said “But I think that’s a negative, honestly. You’re trying to play up to their standards.”

The new and improved Richardson also poses new problems for Detroit's defense, especially if coach Shane Steichen reverts again to a strategy that takes greater advantage of the 6-foot-4, 244-pound Richardson's strong legs.

Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr. said he thought the game plan and the play calling allowed Richardson to settle into the game against the Jets while boosting Richardson's confidence.

On tape, Lions coach Dan Campbell viewed Richardson's re-emergence another way.

“I think what you saw was, last week (was Richardson) really, at his best,” Campbell said. “I’m not even sure you can go back to earlier in the year because I feel like they’ve taken the handcuffs off of him and allowed him to just go.”

Could the changed strategy help Richardson improve on his 6-5 record as a starter while becoming a more consistent thrower? Of course, that's what the Colts hope to see again this week when he faces one of the NFL's Super Bowl favorites.

“I'm still putting the work in every day,” he said. "Trying not to focus on everything good I did last week, just trying to keep it going and just keep stacking up the days.”

Lions running back David Montgomery rarely goes down on the first hit, picking up extra yards by lowering his shoulder and keeping his legs moving.

“He’s a throwback,” Campbell said.

A throwback to whom exactly? Campbell mentioned Hall of Fame running backs Walter Payton and Earl Campbell.

“First guy, he’s not going to let him tackle him,” Campbell said. “Continues to churn his legs. Just violent. Never give up. Never going down. When I watch him, it just reminds me of some of the great ones.”

Steichen wasn't giving away any secrets about his game plan when he spoke to reporters Wednesday, but he did acknowledge the most obvious way to slow down Detroit's high-scoring offense — playing keep away.

That's not a tactic Indy has used much this season. The Colts are ranked 31st in time of possession at 26 minutes, 40 seconds. But using Richardson as a runner, especially on early downs, could help Indy flip the script Sunday.

“I think we’ve got to do a great job of maintaining the ball during this game to limit their chances because they are explosive, and they’ve been doing it at a high level all year,” Steichen said. "We’ve got to eliminate the explosive plays. We’ve got to tackle. We’ve got to have population to the football.”

Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone broke his left forearm in the rout against Jacksonville and joined a long list of banged-up players on defense, including two other players in the position group.

Malcolm Rodriguez, who returned last week after a two-game absence with an ankle injury, will likely step into a larger role.

“It doesn’t matter who we get back, we’re going to use him,” Campbell said. “He helps us there on defense and he helps us on special teams.”

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Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell talks to players during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams (9) celebrates his 64-yard touchdown reception against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams (9) catches a 64-yard touchdown pass against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Detroit Lions tight end Brock Wright (89) celebrates his five-yard touchdown reception against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) breaks through tackles by New York Jets cornerback Isaiah Oliver (23) and cornerback D.J. Reed (4) to score a touchdown during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs (1) extends the ball over the goal line for a touchdown against New York Jets cornerback Isaiah Oliver (23) during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce (14) makes a catch against New York Jets safety Jalen Mills (35) for a first down during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson (5) breaks a tackle against New York Jets safety Jalen Mills (35) as he crosses the goal line to score a touchdown during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Former Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who took over the office to become the second female governor in state history after her predecessor resigned amid a corruption scandal, has died. She was 78.

Rell died Wednesday at a Florida hospital following a brief illness, her family said in a statement Thursday morning.

Rell, a Republican who was born in Virginia and moved to Brookfield, Connecticut, in 1969, served from 2004 until 2011. Known for her candor and compassion — she would personally call and write notes to people when they faced difficult or happy times — Rell was lieutenant governor and took on the governorship during a challenging period for the state. Gov. John G. Rowland was under federal investigation and faced impeachment.

Rowland ultimately pleaded guilty to a single federal corruption count and served 10 months in prison.

In an interview with The Associated Press in 2010, while preparing to leave office, Rell pointed to her early efforts to “restore honor to the state of Connecticut” as one of her major accomplishments.

“Our state had been through so much. And what we really needed to do, what we needed at the time, was to move on, to once again make our residents proud of our state government,” Rell said, adding how her administration worked to reform the state’s campaign finance laws, impose standards for state contracts, and overhaul the state’s ethics commission.

Rell was lauded Thursday by figures in both major parties, including her successor, Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat. “She steadied the ship, and returned a sense of decency and honesty to state government at a time when both were sorely needed,” he said in a statement.

Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Ben Proto, who worked with Rell on screening bills when she was a state representative and he was a young attorney with the House Republican caucus, said Rell became governor “almost reluctantly and at a time of great turmoil” but brought “a level of calm and focus” to the state Capitol and the state.

“Governor Rell may have ascended to the office of Governor during a tumultuous time, but her calm demeanor, her knowledge of state government, her political acumen and her southern charm, won over many critics and helped put Connecticut back on track," Proto said in a statement, calling her "the exact right person to lead our state at that time.”

Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday ordered flags to be lowered in her honor. He said Rell, a mother of two and a grandmother of four, represented the “very best of Connecticut values, expanding healthcare and childcare, and making Connecticut one of the first states in the country to recognize same-sex unions.” In 2005, Rell signed legislation making Connecticut the first state to institute same-sex civil unions through its legislature and not a court order. In 2009, she was the first governor to sign legislation that codified the U.S. Supreme Court's gay marriage ruling, transforming civil unions into marriages and redefining marriage in Connecticut as a legal union of two people.

Lamont said he and Rell became good friends after he took office. They appeared on stage together last year at the Gov. M. Jodi Rell Center for Public Service at the University of Hartford to discuss the importance of bipartisanship. The center's mission is to promote ethics in government, civil discourse in politics and citizen involvement in public service.

“Her style of leadership was not fabricated or manipulated in any way. The Jodi Rell that the people of Connecticut saw in public was the Jodi Rell that she was in real life — calm, rational, caring, approachable, and devoted to her family and to her state.”

Rell served as lieutenant governor for 10 years and as a member of the state House for 10 years, representing Brookfield and Bethel. After finishing out Rowland's term, Rell won the 2006 election by a wide margin. She was the state's last GOP governor to date.

Five months after taking office, Rell had a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery after breast cancer was discovered following a routine mammogram. Nine days after her surgery, Rell returned to the Capitol to deliver her first State of the State address and was greeted by cheers and a longstanding ovation. Many lawmakers wore pink ribbons in support of breast cancer research.

“You know I get embarrassed,” a smiling Rell said, pleading with the crowd to stop the applause.

A moderate Republican who advocated for bipartisanship, Rell made a pointed reference to her illness during that speech when she called for an end to partisan politics.

“I have been unexpectedly confronted with my own mortality as I was told that I had cancer,” she said. “I am looking at things a little differently now, with different eyes. Eyes more focused on what is truly important, what is truly necessary.”

Associated Press Writer Dave Collins contributed to this report.

FILE - Gov. M. Jodi Rell, right, enjoys a laugh as she sits in the driver's seat of a new Homeland Security Vehicle with Dept. of Enviromental Protection Commissioner Gina McCarthy, left, in Windsor Locks, Conn., June 20, 2005. (AP Photo/ Steven Lee Miller, File)

FILE - Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Relland Natasha Phaneuf wait for Gov. Rell to sign into law a bill establishing a stem cell research fund and banning human cloning at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Conn., June 15, 2005. (AP Photo/Bob Child, File)

FILE - Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell hugs Maj. Kevin McMahon, of Old Lyme, Conn., after he and other members of the 118th Medical Battalion of the Connecticut National Guard arrived home in Newington, Conn., Feb. 10, 2005. (AP Photo/Bob Child, File)

FILE - M. Jodi Rell is sworn in as Governor of Connecticut by state Supreme Court Chief Justice William J. Sullivan as her daughter, Meredith O'Connor, center, looks on in a ceremony on the steps of the state Capitol in Hartford, Conn., July 1, 2004. (AP Photo/Bob Child/Pool, File)

FILE - Connecticut Lt. Gov. M. Jodi Rell, speaks to the media after heading up a Bond Commission meeting in Hartford, Conn., June 25, 2004. (AP Photo/Steve Miller, File)

FILE - Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell responds to a question during an interview in her office at the State Capitol in Hartford, Conn., Dec. 19, 2006. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham, File)

FILE - Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell pauses during an interview in her office at the Capitol in Hartford, Conn., Aug. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)