The Colts will remain in wait-and-see mode this week with kicker Matt Gay and wide receiver Josh Downs, both of whom missed the Week 1 opener against Houston with injuries.
“We’ll see how the week progresses with those two,” Shane Steichen said on Monday.
Gay has been dealing with a hernia injury that he sustained against Cincinnati in the final preseason game. Gay mentioned last week that he did have surgery.
Although Gay did not officially practice at all last week, he did do some kicking and was listed as questionable before being ruled out. In his place was undrafted rookie Spencer Shrader, who was elevated from the practice squad for Sunday’s game. Shrader made all three extra-point attempts.
Downs, meanwhile, has been working through a high ankle sprain that he sustained back on August 7th. He did not practice last week and was ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Texans on Friday. Downs was, however, seen working out off the side while practice was taking place.
Without Downs, the Colts took a by-committee approach when it came to those slot snaps, with AD Mitchell and Alec Pierce seeing the bulk of the snaps inside. Anthony Gould had a few opportunities as well.
Getting Downs back would provide and obvious and big boost to the passing game, which while able to create big plays on Sunday, did lack consistency. Downs is coming off a rookie year where he caught over 70 percent of his targets and totaled 771 yards.
Prior to the injury, Downs was having a very good training camp, having built a strong rapport with Anthony Richardson.
The Colts will be back on the practice field Wednesday and the first injury report of the new week will be released.
