Michael Pittman Jr. Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Colts TE Tyler Warren racked up a team-high 9 targets and 7 catches in Sunday's blowout win over the Dolphins. He added 76 yards, second on the team behind WR Michael Pittman. Three of Warren's catches surfaced on the first drive.

The Colts will start QB Daniel Jones in their season opener against the Dolphins, according to both ESPN and NFL Network. Jones and Richardson seemingly played to a draw this summer, which makes it a bit surprising that Indianapolis isn't giving Richardson the Week 1 nod. We ultimately still expect both guys to start multiple games this season.

Update: “He's the starting QB for the season,” HC Shane Steichen said of Jones on Tuesday. “I don’t want to have a short leash on that.” We still don't think Jones will play well enough to keep Richardson off the field all season, but expect Jones to be under center for a while.

Colts’ WR Josh Downs left Thursday’s practice early with an apparent hamstring injury, according to James Boyd of The Athletic.

According to Stephen Holder of ESPN, QB Anthony Richardson is set to start Week 1 of the preseason, with Daniel Jones set to debut in Week 2.

Colts QB Anthony Richardson has generated more buzz than QB Daniel Jones in training camp so far. But The Athletic's Zak Keefer believes the race is "neck and neck" right now. Richardson has shown improvement on short and intermediate passes, but snap-to-snap consistency has remained an issue.

Colts QB Anthony Richardson is believed to be recovered from the right shoulder issue he dealt with last month, according to ESPN's Stephen Holder. Richardson missed two weeks of June minicamp with an aggravation of the AC joint injury that ended his 2023 season. The rest has seemingly alleviated the issue, though. Richardson has been "throwing the ball with velocity" for weeks, per Holder, although it's still possible that he'll be on a pitch count early in camp.

Colts QB Anthony Richardson is dealing with a right shoulder injury and won't participate in next week's minicamp, HC Shane Steichen said Thursday. Steichen called it an aggravation of the AC joint injury that ended Richardson's 2023 season. He had surgery then but is not expected to need surgery this time, according to Steichen.

Colts HC Shane Steichen said Monday that QBs Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones will split first-team reps this spring. That confirms that this is a truly open competition for the starting job -- rather than Richardson having a head start as the incumbent. The Colts have made it clear since the end of the last season that Richardson would need to earn the 2025 starting job after a disappointing 2024 campaign. The team's OTAs begin on April 21.

The Colts are finalizing a one-year deal with QB Daniel Jones. ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that it's expected to pay Jones $14 million. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero adds that the contract carries a $17.7 million max value

Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr. said Monday that he played all season with a small fracture in his back. James Boyd of The Athletic reports that Pittman first felt the issue during training camp and had the fracture revealed by testing in Week 3. It was Week 6 when we got the odd progression from Pittman expecting to lose multiple weeks to a back injury to playing in that week's game. He wound up missing only Week 10 vs. Buffalo.

Colts QB Anthony Richardson (back, foot) is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game vs. the Giants. He didn’t practice all week. “We’ll see how the next 48 hours goes,” HC Shane Steichen said Friday. Beat writer Kevin Bowen notes that, of the 26 Colts players to miss an entire week of practice this season, only DeForest Buckner ended up playing. It seems more likely than not that QB Joe Flacco is under center for Indianapolis this weekend. He’d be just a low-end QB2 option in fantasy lineups but would be a significant boost to WRs Michael Pittman and Josh Downs.

Colts QB Anthony Richardson (back, foot) was not on the field for the portion of Thursday's practice open to the media. But ESPN's Stephen Holder hears that the team is "optimistic" Richardson will be ready for this weekend's game vs. the Giants. "He has made consistent progress and is responding to treatment," Holder writes. "But the source said Richardson's performance in Friday's practice would be critical." We'll update Richardson's status again on Friday afternoon. His absence would leave QB Joe Flacco under center, which would be a big boost for WRs Michael Pittman and Josh Downs.

Colts WR Alec Pierce (concussion) is out for Sunday's game vs. the Titans. He leaves behind 4.1 targets per game, giving WRs Michael Pittman and Josh Downs slight boosts. WR Adonai Mitchell figures to soak up most of Pierce's snaps but is only viable in DFS tournaments.

Colts WR Michael Pittman (back) returned to a full practice on Thursday. He should be ready to roll for this weekend's game vs. the Titans. Pittman is just a WR4 with QB Anthony Richardson at the controls.

Colts WRs Michael Pittman (back) and Alec Pierce (concussion) did not practice on Wednesday. Pittman has been playing through this back issue for a while now, although he was a full-go at practice all last week. We're still tentatively expecting him to play vs. the Titans this weekend but will keep you posted on his status. Pierce is unlikely to clear protocol in time to play on Sunday.

Colts WR Alec Pierce (foot) did not practice on Wednesday. We don't have any details on his foot injury. WR Josh Downs (shoulder) is not expected to play vs. the Patriots this weekend, while WR Ashton Dulin (ankle) also missed Wednesday's practice. That leaves Michael Pittman, Adonai Mitchell, and Anthony Gould as the three healthy WRs on Indianapolis' active roster.

Colts WR Josh Downs is considered "week to week" with the shoulder injury he suffered in Sunday's loss to the Lions and is a "long shot" to play against the Patriots this weekend, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. "But the belief is he did not suffer a major injury," Rapoport adds.

Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr. led the team with 6 receptions and 96 yards in Sunday's loss to the Lions. That accounted for 54.5% of QB Anthony Richardson's completions and 55.8% of his passing yardage for the game. It also marked just the second time all season that Pittman has exceeded 63 yards in a game this season.

Colts WR Michael Pittman is questionable to return to Sunday's game vs. the Lions with a shoulder injury. It's a new injury for Pittman, who's been playing through a bad back and also suffered a finger injury earlier this season. We'll update his status when we know more. His absence should mean more snaps for WR A.D. Mitchell.

Update: Pittman returned to the game.

Colts WR Michael Pittman (back) put in a full week of practice and isn’t listed on the final injury report for Sunday’s game vs. the Jets. With QB Anthony Richardson back under center, though, Pittman is no better than a WR4. He’s finished outside the top 50 WRs in PPR points in four of five games with Richardson this season.