The Indianapolis Colts released their first injury report of the week ahead of Sunday’s Week 13 matchup with New England, and included were several members of the wide receiver room.
Of note, for the third Wednesday in a row, the Colts held a walkthrough instead of a full-on practice, so this injury report is an estimation of each player’s status had their been a normal practice.
Listed as non-participants from the receiver room specifically was Josh Downs, Ashton Dulin, and Alec Pierce. Michael Pittman was also on the injury report for his back but was a full participant.
Downs suffered a shoulder injury in Sunday’s game. Although he would return on the following possession, it was reported on Monday by Ian Rapoport that Downs was “week to week” and a “long shot” to play this Sunday.
While head coach Shane Steichen wasn’t willing to rule Downs out of this week’s matchup just yet, he did say that being available is going to be “tough.”
“It’s gonna be tough for him this week,” Steichen said. “Not ruling him out, but it’s gonna be tough.”
Dulin, meanwhile, is working through an ankle injury that forced him out of this past week’s game as well, although he did not return. As of now, we don’t have any further updates on his potential availability.
Lastly, Alec Pierce is listed with a foot injury. James Boyd of The Athletic would report that Pierce was getting his right ankle “looked at/re-taped” during Sunday’s game but a source told Boyd that Pierce was “good.”
It seems unlikely that we will see Downs this week, which begs the question, who will handle the slot receiver reps if he is out?
During Weeks 1 and 2, when Downs was sidelined with an ankle injury, it was a by-committee approach, which I would expect we see again, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s AD Mitchell who sees a lot of those snaps–assuming Pierce and/or Dulin is available.
Otherwise, Mitchell will see some boundary snaps as well and fellow rookie Anthony Gould will possibly be apart of that slot equation as well.
With still two days left of practice this week, we will remain in wait-and-see mode at the receiver position, but these injuries are certainly worth monitoring.