Josh Downs didn’t try to spin Sunday. He didn’t dodge the ugly parts, either.
After a rough showing in the Colts’ 27-23 loss to the Cowboys at Lucas Oil Stadium, the receiver owned it plainly: “Yeah, I stunk today, but it’s the game of football sometimes. I didn’t catch those passes when I should have, and that’s that,” Downs said.
“I dropped a couple (actually, three) against Tennessee (in Week 6) as well. I don’t really know what it was.
I just gotta focus on the ball, make a couple good catches.
“I dropped simple ones, so not really sure where that’s coming from. I’ve got to be better.”
That admission landed in the middle of a messy stretch that has followed Downs for nearly a month, on and off the field. He has been at the center of the Colts’ recent turbulence, including a trade request that leaked 11 days ago after Indianapolis dealt Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner with two weeks left before the NFL’s Nov. 10 trade deadline. For a player who has been viewed as one of the team’s most gifted receivers, the situation has turned sour fast on a roster missing a healthy Alec Pierce and carrying a five-game losing streak.
Sunday was another rough checkpoint. Downs finished with three catches on six targets for 24 yards, and two of those incompletions came on third downs that mattered. The biggest miss came late in the fourth quarter with the Colts at the Cowboys’ 32-yard line, facing third-and-8 and trying to drain the clock before what looked like a likely game-winning field goal attempt from Spencer Shrader.
Downs was open, with his younger brother, Cowboys rookie nickel corner Caleb Downs, trailing nearby with his hands outstretched near Josh’s waist. The pass hit Josh Downs in the hands and bounced away.
That drop changed the final sequence. Instead of extending the drive, Indianapolis settled for a 50-yard field goal and gave Dallas the ball back with more than 90 seconds left. From there, the Cowboys needed only a field goal from the NFL’s best kicker to force overtime, or a touchdown from one of the league’s most electric offenses to win.
Some fans questioned whether Shane Steichen should have thrown at all in that spot, but the coach said after the game he was “trying to win the game there.”
“I think there are some things (Josh) would want to have back, for sure,” Steichen said Sunday. “I thought he did some good things, but obviously, we want to finish with the ball in certain situations. But Downs is a helluva football player.”
Downs’ rough afternoon came after he had already made his frustration known to the organization. Less than two weeks ago, he formally asked the Colts to trade him, a stunning turn for a young receiver who has spent this season in a featured role and, by the numbers, has not turned that opportunity into the kind of production that would force the league to see him as more than a fringe No. 2 or solid No. 3 option in a strong offense.
The production has backed that up. Through Sunday, Downs has caught 33 of 57 targets, a career-low 57.9% catch rate. His latest line only deepened the concern, and his struggles have stretched beyond one game.
He said Sunday’s issues weren’t tied to the trade request.
Asked whether the request had weighed on him, Downs said he “didn’t really have an answer for (that)” before adding, “I don’t think (so). Nah, I wasn’t distracted. I just stunk today.”
He also made clear he isn’t spending much time worrying about where he’ll be after Tuesday’s deadline.
“I’m not worried about that right now,” Downs said. “I’ve got some things I’ve got to fix on my own.
“I’m open to whatever, and if (the team) wants me to stay here, I’ll stay here, and if they don’t and they want to trade me away, they’ll trade me away.”
The latest chapter only adds to a season that has not gone the way Downs likely envisioned when he stepped into a bigger role. Last year, in his third season, he drew the third-most targets on an offense that started at a historic pace.
Even then, he finished with just four more targets than Pierce, and Pierce nearly doubled him in receiving yards, 1,003 to 566. Downs was third on the Colts in receptions with 58, but that was only 12 more than Jonathan Taylor, who ranked fifth on the team in 2025.
Now, with the deadline approaching and league chatter suggesting the return for Downs could be as little as a Day 3 draft pick for the final two months and playoffs of his rookie contract, the uncertainty around him is only growing. For the moment, though, Downs is focused on the simplest part of the equation: catching the ball.
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