Darius Slayton saw Alec Pierce hobble off the field at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday and had an inkling the Colts might soon call.
Within 48 hours, the veteran wide receiver was on a plane from Atlanta to Indianapolis, where he immediately began a crash course in learning the Colts' offense – and the names of everyone around the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center.
"Sunday night they they didn't get the win, but I feel like they played really well," Slayton said. "They're a good unit. I saw that Pierce went down – obviously, I wasn't cheering for that. But I knew that kind of would provide some opportunity here as well."
Slayton, until he was released on Sept. 7, had spent every minute of his professional career with the New York Giants. The challenge with the Colts, though, goes well beyond learning who's who – it's learning a new offense with only a handful of days before a critical Week 3 matchup with the Houston Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Slayton, though, said he has several things going for him. First, he described the Colts' offense as "intuitive," which will help him grasp its concepts quickly. Second, he spent five years of his career catching passes from Daniel Jones with the New York Giants.
"Really enjoyed playing alongside him," Slayton said. "He's a good quarterback. He's smart. He can spin it."
"... Philosophically, I think we see the field pretty similarly, and that's something that worked well for us in the past. And I expect it to work well for us going forward."
Finally, he has a tremendous resource in wide receivers coach Reggie Wayne. And that's a resource Slayton has already tapped into quite a bit over the last day or so.
"Coach Wayne's probably sick of me already," Slayton said with a smile. "I was with him last night, I was with him again this morning and I'll probably be with him again tonight. We'll be spending a lot of time together over the next few days, but that's kind of the best way for me to close the gap, is to try to absorb as much information as I can."
The Colts believe Slayton can add "juice" to their offense, as head coach Shane Steichen put it, owing to his ability to win vertically down the field with speed. Since debuting in 2019, 18 of Slayton's 22 career receiving touchdowns have gone for 20 or more yards, which is tied with three other players (Terry McLaurin, Justin Jefferson and Tee Higgins) for the ninth-most in the NFL in that span.
Slayton is also one of four active players to average at least 15 yards per reception on 250 or more career receptions, along with George Pickens, Mike Evans and A.J. Brown.
A year ago, Pierce helped open up the Colts' offense through his downfield explosiveness, which heavily contributed to the team's 8-2 start. If Slayton can provide a certain level of speed and explosiveness – which he has in the past – he's confident he and Jones can work together to find a similar level of success in 2026.
"Things were rolling over here and y'all were sitting in a pretty good spot, and unfortunately (Jones) got injured," Slayton said. "But up until that point, you know he was sharp, the offense was sharp.
"And I expect it to look similar this year again."
