Wide receiver Josh Downs’ status for the Colts’ Week 1 regular season opener against the Houston Texans is still unknown, but he’s progressing quite well, says head coach Shane Steichen.
“I don’t want to put a time,” said Steichen after Sunday’s practice. “I’d love to have him for Week 1. I mean, that’s the hope for Week 1. But he’s progressing really well.”
Downs suffered a high ankle sprain in practice back on August 7th. At that time, Ian Rapoport reported that Downs could be sidelined for 4-6 weeks–although the Colts have never mentioned a possible timeline for his return.
With the Colts playing the Texans on September 8th, on the short end of the timeline Rapoport mentioned, Downs could potentially be available.
Prior to that injury, Downs was having a very impressive training camp, with the rapport that he has established with Anthony Richardson being a catalyst behind that fast start.
Down is coming off of a very good rookie year, where he caught 72 percent of his targets for 771 yards with two touchdowns.
Among all receivers, Downs’ ranked seventh in yards from the slot, and compared to his Colts’ teammates, had the most missed tackles forced, the highest average YAC, along with 10 receptions of 20-plus yards.
We often hear about second season for a player being where the biggest developmental leap takes place. In large part this is because of the familiarity with the system, the speed of the game at the NFL level, and having a full offseason to work on their craft.
Given what we had seen from Downs throughout the offseason and into training camp, he appears poised to make that jump.
If Downs is not available right away, we will likely see AD Mitchell in the slot. In Downs’ absence, it has been Mitchell who has taken the bulk of those snaps with the starting offense. The Colts could also try to work in fellow rookie Anthony Gould as well.