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Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs (shoulder) suffered an injury in Week 12 of NFL action, and wasn't able to finish his game. It's been a frustrating up-and-down season for Downs, between the injuries he's dealt with and the miniature carousel at quarterback the Colts have had this year.
Still, he's looked like the best receiver on his team for most of the season, and his game has taken a major step up from his 2023 campaign. He's had stretches of production that made him a must-start in PPR leagues, and he's rostered in 88% of leagues, showing you the confidence fantasy managers have in his upside.
So when will he return from his injury?
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Josh Downs Injury Update for Fantasy Football
He picked up a shoulder ailment in the team's loss to the Detroit Lions. Luckily, indications are that it's not serious. He's considered a "long shot" to play in Week 13 against the New England Patriots, but there's optimism that he won't miss any more time than that.
#Colts WR Josh Downs, who left Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury, is considered week-to-week and is a long-shot to play on Sunday against the #Patriots, source said. But the belief is he did not suffer a major injury.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 25, 2024
There's been plenty of speculation that it's a right AC joint sprain. These wounds are commonly picked up when a player falls hard on one of their shoulders, often with the weight of another player on top of them. Some kind of impact damages the ligaments of the AC joint in the shoulder.
Trevor Lawrence dealing with a serious AC Joint sprain in non-throwing shoulder - contemplating surgery.
Likely type III (seen in picture)
Without surgery risk of re-injury or making it worse. Very painful pic.twitter.com/iBN7wfWNCU
— Adam Hutchison (@TheRealAdam_H) November 10, 2024
The above tweet references an injury to Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (shoulder), but is helpful learning what the bone and ligament structure looks like. Considering that Downs' iteration of this was relatively minor, he could be dealing with something similar to picture I or II.
Josh Downs Fantasy Football Outlook
The inconsistency of quarterback Anthony Richardson has been a detriment to Downs' game, but he's a great WR3/FLEX option with WR2 upside in PPR. He's had a few big games this season -- he's logged PPR fantasy point scores of 22.2, 22.2, 19.5 and 19.4 FPTs. That upside is absolutely worth starting on a weekly basis.
Josh Downs putting up six from the backfield pic.twitter.com/vIhXBDl0DY
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) November 26, 2024
He's a stellar route-runner with elite short-area quickness that makes it very hard to cover him in one-on-one situations with any defensive player. He has a very valuable skillset both in real football and in fantasy.
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