The Indianapolis Colts have a crowded competition in the wide receiver room, but Devin Funchess is in line to be the offense’s WR2 opposite T.Y. Hilton.
As the Colts wrap up the preseason Thursday night and begin focusing on the Week 1 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. Dealing with a back injury, Funchess is hopeful to be ready for the opener.
“Just his back,” coach Frank Reich said Tuesday. “He had an incident at practice the other day where he kind of had a back-spasm type thing. We are just trying to make sure to get him ready for Week 1 and play it safe since we knew he wasn’t going to be playing. But he is making good progress and feel fairly confident he will be ready.”
Though Funchess hasn’t had an immaculate showing through training camp and the preseason, there have been flashes that encourage his usage in the Colts offense.
He’s played sparingly in the preseason, but the Colts haven’t been shy about moving Funchess into the slot and getting him over the middle on crossers. Despite his size, his tape shows a solid route runner and one that could find some mismatches working from the slot.
In Reich’s first season as the play caller, the Colts ran plenty of crossers over the middle. While Funchess is going to see time on the boundary as well, it is intriguing to see him line up inside so often.
The Colts open their season on Sept. 8 without Andrew Luck. They are hoping Funchess will be ready to go to be a big target for Jacoby Brissett.
