Josh Downs has been a Chief for only a few days, and he already knows what could slow him down: the playbook. The slot receiver came over from the 2-7 Colts at the trade deadline and now joins a 6-2 team with Super Bowl plans. His goal is plain, and it has nothing to do with stats. Learn the offense fast and earn Patrick Mahomes’ trust. Kansas City has seen deadline pickups fade before, and Downs told reporters this week he does not plan to join that list.
Downs wants to win over Mahomes by learning the playbook fast
The Chiefs have a mixed record with midseason arrivals. In 2024, DeAndre Hopkins was busy early and then tapered off. Josh Uche never found a real role. Kansas City additions tend to hit a steep learning curve.Downs is a short-area specialist who works mostly from the slot. That puts him in the same lane as Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice, who already get a lot of that work. The offense also leans on choice and option routes, so a receiver has to read the defense and know what Mahomes expects.Rookie Cyrus Allen shows the risk. Nine games into his Chiefs tenure, his role trails the hype, partly because he has not fully mastered the offense.Downs says he gets that, and he started with his quarterback.“Build that relationship with him and then on the field, when he throws me the ball, just catch it,” Downs said. “And keep making plays when he throws it to me. Just do anything I can to learn the offense as fast as possible. I don’t want to be a guy that’s asking everybody what the play is [or] what the formation is. I feel like that’s when you kind of get left behind, so I want to do everything I can to learn as fast as possible.”
Downs leaves the Colts with no hard feelings
Downs also moves from the 2-7 Colts to a 6-2 club with title hopes.“It’s great to join a team like this with so much history and so much winning in their past, and even now,” Downs said. “So I’m excited to be able to be a part of a group like this and contribute where I can.”The numbers back him up. Over three and a half years in Indianapolis, Downs drew 350 targets and caught 231 passes for 2,494 yards and 12 touchdowns. He posted a 66.0% catch rate and a 50.6% success rate. His second season may have been his best overall, and he stayed effective last year on 6% fewer snaps than the year before.He asked out, and Indianapolis granted it. Downs has no complaints.“I know they made a decision based off the betterment of their organization,” Downs said. “I respect them for sending me to an organization like this. Those are great people over there, and I feel like they did right by me. This is the choice they made.”Catching the ball was never his problem. Knowing where to be before the snap is the test, and Mahomes will notice quickly.
