Two surgeries, three teams later, James Washington makes big play on first day with Colts

INDIANAPOLIS — The first time James Washington looked up into the Lucas Oil Stadium lights, he couldn’t see the ball.

It was the kind of ball he’d been chasing for more than a year. A chance to prove that he’s back, that last fall’s broken foot and two surgeries are finally behind him, that he still has something to offer an NFL offense after a year-long odyssey that threatened to end his career.

First he was a Cowboy, then a Giant, then a Saint, and now he’d been a Colt for a little more than 24 hours, hoping to do something to catch his new team’s attention late in training camp.

But he couldn’t see the ball.

“Then I looked back up the field, heard the crowd and looked up,” Washington said. “And it’s just a perfect ball.”

He let Sam Ehlinger’s moonshot settle into his hands for a 42-yard gain, the longest of the night for either team in a preseason game designed mostly for players on the edges of the roster to make a critical impression in the final weeks before roster cutdowns.

Washington’s first catch in an NFL game since 2021.

It’s a fact that would have seemed unthinkable last July. A star at Oklahoma State, Washington was a second-round pick by the Steelers in 2018, then spent the next four seasons establishing himself as a big-play weapon, averaging 14.3 yards on 114 career catches in Pittsburgh, even if he didn’t quite live up to his second-round billing.

Washington followed up those four seasons by signing a one-year deal in Dallas, taking a low-cost, low-risk deal to play for a Cowboys team that had just lost Amari Cooper. A chance to carve out a role in his home state seemed there for the taking.

Then he broke his foot, fracturing his fifth metatarsal a week into training camp with the Cowboys.

Washington went through surgery. Fought his way back to the roster, eventually getting activated off injured reserve in December.

But his foot wasn’t healthy. Far from it.

“It didn’t feel right at all,” Washington said. “I didn’t feel explosive. I felt like I couldn’t run, so I knew something needed to be done, but I didn’t want it to be.”

Dallas released Washington a few weeks later and the Giants signed him to the practice squad.

New York ended up being the place he finally found relief. While he was playing for the Giants, Washington met with orthopedic surgeon Martin O’Malley, New York’s foot and ankle consultant.

Washington had been right. His foot was far from healthy.

O’Malley put the veteran receiver under the knife again, this time on Jan. 25, taking bone from Washington’s hip and grafting it onto his foot.

New York didn’t release Washington until March. He wasn’t fully healthy again until June, a month after he’d signed with the New Orleans Saints.

Frustrated by all the setbacks, Washington admits it felt like football was slipping away.

“God and family,” Washington said. “It felt like that was all I had at the time.”

Washington never found traction with the Saints. New Orleans targeted him twice in its preseason opener, then released him Aug. 15.

“It kind of feels like nobody wants you anymore, it’s a battle just trying to get back on the field,” Washington said. “And then somebody just gives you a chance.”

The Colts picked him up Friday.

Indianapolis lost veteran wide receiver Ashton Dulin to a torn ACL last week, and the collection of veteran receivers the Colts have assembled hasn’t produced a clear front-runner for the roster spot Dulin was vacating.

“When guys go down, everyone is competing,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. “You bring bodies in, you’re constantly evaluating and seeing who those guys are going to be in the final cuts.”

Washington knows he doesn’t have much time, essentially only two preseason games and a single joint practice to make a big impression.

The first preseason game was happening the day after he’d signed in Indianapolis.

Washington spent almost all of that time working on the playbook, first with assistant coaches Reggie Wayne and Brian Bratton, then on into the night.

“I looked at it all night, talked to my wife on the phone at the same time,” Washington said. “It’s been a crazy few days.”

The Colts coaches told Washington he’d be playing with third-string quarterback Sam Ehlinger.

When Washington heard that, he had to smile. Ehlinger had played in the Big 12 at Texas; he’d know Washington’s skill set.

The two men spoke only once, right before the start of the game.

“Hey, if you need anything in the huddle, just ask me,” Ehlinger remembers telling Washington.

When he stepped to the line and saw Washington in one-on-one coverage, Ehlinger’s eyes brightened.

The veteran receiver had been right. Ehlinger remembered him, then lofted a perfect ball up into the night sky.

“I’d seen that go route thrown to him way too many times at Oklahoma State,” Ehlinger said. “I knew that he would go get it.”

Washington likely still has a lot of work to do to make the Colts’ initial 53-man roster.

Four Indianapolis receiving spots seem set — Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, Josh Downs and Isaiah McKenzie — and how many more remain after that, according to Steichen, will likely come down to a player’s ability to contribute on special teams, in addition to the team’s need for outside help behind Pierce and Pittman Jr.

Washington knows what he can add to the mix.

“Fly down the field and run fast,” Washington said. “That’s really what I’ve done my whole life.”

And Saturday night’s catch proved he finally has that ability back.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colts: New WR James Washington's long road to big play on first day