WESTFIELD – Reggie Wayne has enough responsibilities as the Colts’ wide receivers coach, the team’s legendary fan-favorite wideout on the cusp of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and an occasional psychiatrist for his at times emotional receivers room.
You can count “signing free agents” outside his realm of responsibility.
And so when Wayne was asked Sunday after the Colts’ ninth training camp practice about the prospect of signing a veteran free agent receiver – former Chargers great Keenan Allen is a common mention – to aid a room that has been missing three of its top-six wideouts (Alec Pierce, Josh Downs and Laquon Treadwell) due to injury the last two practices, Wayne opted to stay out of the fray.
“I’m just a servant. I’m here to serve. I get one paycheck, and that’s to be the receivers coach,” he said. “You get me doing those kinds of decisions and thoughts, and I’m going to need two paychecks.
“I’m damn near almost two paychecks already because I’m almost a psychiatrist to some of these guys – and a counselor. Listen, the more ‘Reggie Waynes’ I can get, the better, and that’s what we’re looking for. Whoever’s in the room, I’m going to teach ‘em as hard as I can and help ‘em get better and work on whatever flaws they have.”
Over the past 12 months, the Colts have traded away two of the team’s four best receivers on the roster to start the 2025 season – Michael Pittman Jr., who was the team’s WR1 for a half-decade, and AD Mitchell, who in parts of two years in Indianapolis, offered big-play potential marred by mental mistakes. And without a defined timeline for Pierce’s return from the PUP list closing in on a month before the Colts’ Week 1 regular season opener against the Ravens, there’s a growing concern outside the organization over the team’s receiver depth. Downs’ groin injury, head coach Shane Steichen said Sunday, isn’t expected to be a concern, with the head coach adding Downs might practice Tuesday.
Treadwell, though, has missed the last several practices with an injured hamstring, and the team’s trio of wideout injuries have, if nothing else, forced the first-team offensive unit into some three-receiver sets during training camp that would concern a fanbase for its lack of potency, should it ever appear in a regular season game.
In short, even if Downs, Treadwell and Pierce are back on the field come Week 1, the Colts’ receiver injury woes during camp have shown just how quickly their room’s production capability falls off with a couple injured legs – even if it’s just for a game or two.
Treadwell has caught a single pass in the NFL since the end of the 2022 season. Fellow rotational big-play threat Ashton Dulin has only made seven catches in the same span, and odds-on WR3 favorite Nick Westbrook-Ikhine has never logged even 40 catches in a season and totaled just 11 in a one-off season in Miami in 2025. Others like Anthony Gould (three catches in two years), Deion Burks (rookie) and Coleman Owen and Eli Pancol (zero catches each in limited action as rookies a year ago) have had their moments during controlled training camp environments but don’t offer the track records worthy of starts on a team attempting to replicate its top-league offense from the first half of 2025.
Even if the Colts’ starting receiver lineup heals up come Week 1, Wayne said these increased training camp reps for some of the lesser-known players in his room – particularly Owen, Pancol, Gould and Burks – will prove valuable if any of his fringe players hope to challenge for serious roles on the team that they outright earn over time.
“I see opportunities. Whenever you’ve got a teammate that goes down at the same position, your antennae ought to go up. There’s another opportunity – more opportunities – to go out there and make plays,” Wayne said. “When their number is called, obviously you don’t want anyone hurt, but we all know that’s part of the game, but Gould needs those reps to show what he can do. Coleman Owen now gets an opportunity.
“I see those guys stepping up and making plays, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Do the Colts need to sign a veteran receiver? A look at the position
Reporting by Nathan Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Nathan Brown, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
