The door for Josh Downs’ injury recovery before the Colt’s Week 1 matchup against the Texans remains open.
The Indianapolis Colts are in an intriguing position ahead of the 2024 NFL season’s start. The Colts are returning some promising talent, which includes rising second-year wide receiver Josh Downs. However, Indianapolis has received a murky injury update on Downs ahead of the team’s Week 1 matchup against the Houston Texans.
Josh Downs did not practice on Wednesday, according to Joel A. Erikson of the Indy Star. However, head coach Shane Steichen still left the door open for Downs’ return for the first week of play.
“We’ll see,” Steichen said. “He’s progressing really well.”
Downs sprained his ankle during a 7-on-7 drill at Colts practice in early August. Hopefully, he will have a safe and efficient recovery period.
Downs had a sound rookie season with Indianapolis. He totaled 771 yards and two touchdowns in 17 appearances. Should Downs miss extended time, the Colts will look for Michael Pittman Jr to pick up some of the slack.
Pittman Jr. comes off a season where he amassed 1,152 yards and four TDs. Pittman and the wide receiving core will also be supported by running back Jonathan Taylor. Taylor has not performed as well as he did during his first two years with the team, but he could experience a breakout in 2024.
Another player fans will have eyes on is rising second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson. Indianapolis looks for Richardson to make a notable improvement in 2024, and Shane Steichen wants him to make full use of his talents to do so. Steichen said Richardson’s mobility will not be limited during the season, via an episode of the Rich Eisen Show from August.
“I don’t want to take that out of his game, I know that that’s what he does really well. I mean are we going to abuse it? No. We’re not going to abuse it but there’s going to be a time and a place, and that keeps defenses on their heels,” the Colts’ coach said. “I know he likes to run the football. I think you know he was rolling there those first four weeks, I think he had four rushing touchdowns, had some big runs that changed the game for us. So we don’t want to lose that element of our offense.”
It will be fun to watch Richardson and the rest of Indianapolis’ squad grow as they approach a pivotal season.
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