Josh Downs Camp Update — August 23: Two Highlight Grabs From Jones

On the day Daniel Jones completed every pass he threw, the two catches the team's own notebook chose to describe both belonged to Josh Downs. In Wednesday's joint practice against the Falcons at Grand Park, Downs caught a tipped pass for a touchdown and hauled in a deep ball from Jones, per JJ Stankevitz at the Colts' website. That extends a pattern: last week's headline connection in Foxborough ended with a Downs touchdown too. When Jones's practices go well, Downs keeps being where they go well to.

The week's complication shares his position group. Indianapolis signed Keenan Allen, a 34-year-old veteran with a career built in the slot, on Wednesday. Before anyone runs ahead of the reporting: Stankevitz frames the signing as personnel flexibility — letting Shane Steichen play two-tight-end and three-receiver groupings with equal conviction — and Steichen's own explanation was about Allen's football intelligence pairing with Jones, not about anyone's role shrinking. No report this week describes any change to Downs's usage. But the June read said Downs's season is a usage question — two years ago he commanded a quarter of the targets when on the field, last year under 18 percent, and which job returns is a coaching decision — so a cerebral veteran arriving in the same room is a fact his file has to carry, even if only as context.

Downs has no attributed line from Saturday's 34 to six loss to Atlanta, in which the vast majority of starters rested, per Stankevitz.

Next week is the first real usage evidence of the summer: Steichen indicated starters will play in Saturday's finale against Detroit, per Stankevitz — watch where Downs lines up with the full offense assembled, how often Jones goes to him, and where Allen fits around him. Rosters cut to 53 on Sunday. We'll check after cut day.

_Data via nflverse._