"I thought he hopped in there and battled," Saints coach Kellen Moore said. "He was going against (Ravens rush linebacker) Trey (Hendrickson) on a couple of passing situations, I thought he held his own.
"He's a steady player; he doesn't get too high, he doesn't get too low. I think he does a good job of putting himself in good position from a pass protection standpoint. He's still a young player that's just continuing to grow and develop. Him having (left guard) David (Edwards) over there next to him I think will help. There'll be some stability, I think, because of that."
The Saints brought in Richards via trade with Dallas in 2025 — he was a fifth-round pick by the Cowboys in 2023 — and he started four games last season, then didn't start but played 82 percent of the offensive snaps in the season finale.
"Asim was asked to play a number of snaps last year and he'll be asked to play a number of snaps this year," Moore said. "I think he's gotten better through the offseason. We'll prepare with him getting as many reps as he possibly can, and he'll be ready to go."
The work from last season prepared Richards for Sunday.
"It helps a lot," he said. "You get more time with the system, you become way more comfortable with it. I just felt a lot more comfortable (Sunday). I was able to plug right in and keep the offense rolling.
"It's very exciting. It just goes to show everybody that if everybody does their job, we will win a lot of games if everybody just does their part. That's really what it amounts to, and that's what we did."
Richards didn't have extensive work with the starters in the offseason, but he said the totality of preparation put him in position to contribute.
"That's what training camp is for, that's what practice is for," he said. "You've got to lock in to the plays, you've got to lock in to what we're doing that week. You prepare like you're playing the game, you won't be unprepared for the moment."