For the first time this season, the Indianapolis Colts appear to be non-committal on second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson becoming the team’s starter, according to multiple reports.

Indianapolis is 4-4 this season and will play the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football in Week 9.

During his Monday press conference with local media members, Colts head coach Shane Steichen was asked more than once if Richardson would be the team’s starter against Minnesota.

His first answer?

“We evaluate everything,” Steichen said via ESPN.

When asked more specifically whether Richardson is currently the team’s starter, Steichen said via ESPN: “Right now, today, he is, yes.”

Steichen’s reaction on Monday was markedly different from what he had said during the first eight weeks of the season. When Richardson was healthy, there was no question whether or not he would be the Colts’ starter.

Now Indianapolis could turn to backup quarterback Joe Flacco. The 39-year-old veteran has appeared in three games this season, including two starts against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans. Flacco is 1-1 as the team’s starter.

Steichen acknowledged Monday that the team would evaluate more than just the quarterback position and that Richardson making a play didn’t take into account the team’s need for evaluations.

“We evaluate everything,” Steichen said via FOX59. “Not just the quarterback (but) everything. We all have to get better. I mean, we’re at .500 and I think looking back at what we’ve done, there’s a whole bunch of areas where we can improve. I’m not just talking about the quarterback. I talk about everything. “We have to do better in the future.”

As the team’s starter, Richardson has struggled this season, most recently against the Houston Texans on Sunday. The second-year quarterback completed just 10 of 32 pass attempts for 175 yards with one touchdown and one interception. In the first half, aside from a 69-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Josh Downs, Richardson was just 2 of 15 for 81 yards despite not getting much help from his fellow pass catchers.

But the second-year quarterback’s problems go beyond Sunday’s poor performance against Houston. In six starts this season, Richardson has completed an NFL-low 44.4 percent of his passes for 958 yards with just four touchdowns and seven interceptions.

The 22-year-old signal caller isn’t solely to blame for the Colts’ offensive woes, and Steichen has said more than once that he needs to help move Richardson to better spots. Both things can (and are) true. On offense, the Colts rank 16th in yards per game (326.0), 11th in rushing (128.0), 21st in passing (198.0) and 19th in total yards per game, according to FOX59. Place in scoring (21.9).

It’s clear that Indianapolis’ offense needs to find a more unified identity moving forward. One could argue that Richardson’s dual-threat skills give the Colts a greater chance to find that identity.

For a franchise that has preached patience with the league’s youngest quarterback, a sudden move would come as a surprise to many. The Colts are clearly not ruling out that possibility, and now it’s becoming a situation worth keeping an eye on going forward.