Colts Make Peculiar WR Announcement Before Week 4

Darius Slayton will not play when the Indianapolis Colts face the Washington Commanders in London on Sunday.

The veteran wide receiver is inactive for the second week in a row, and he has not appeared on the injury report, which points to a roster decision rather than a physical setback.

Indianapolis signed Slayton after Alec Pierce aggravated a heel injury and landed on injured reserve.

The New York Giants had released Slayton at the end of the preseason, leaving him on the open market for several weeks before the Colts brought him in.

Still under 30, he looked like a useful addition: a proven outside receiver who already knew quarterback Daniel Jones from their time together in New York. On paper, the fit was straightforward.

In practice, it has not translated into game snaps.

The delay made more sense in the days immediately after the signing. Slayton arrived in Indianapolis on a Tuesday, spent much of that day on physicals and introductions, and then tried to catch up with wide receivers coach Reggie Wayne.

Heading into Week 3, coach Shane Steichen said it had been three weeks since Slayton last played and that the staff was still getting him acclimated to the offense. He was in shape, Steichen said, but the layoff mattered.

More than 10 days after the signing, that assessment has not changed. The Colts simply do not appear ready to trust him in the lineup yet.

That choice leaves Indianapolis thin at the position in London. Keenan Allen is also unavailable, so Josh Downs and Laquon Treadwell sit at the top of the wide receiver group.

Ashton Dulin will be active, along with seventh-round rookie Deion Burks. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was elevated from the practice squad and offers the most natural skill-set replacement for Allen, even though he played only a single snap a week ago.

How the snaps fall behind Downs and Treadwell, who led the Colts’ receivers in playing time in Week 3, is unsettled.

For Slayton, the inactive list is an awkward start to a reunion that was supposed to supply an offensive spark. He spent weeks waiting for a job, then arrived midstream into a scheme he had not practiced.

The Colts clearly valued the prior connection with Jones and the chance to add a receiver who still has productive seasons behind him. They have not yet decided that familiarity is enough.

Until the staff believes he is fully up to speed, Slayton will watch from the sideline while a thinner group of wideouts tries to keep the passing game intact against Washington.