Keenan Allen's first snaps as a Colt amounted to one catch. He ran a route in Saturday's preseason finale against Detroit, took a throw from Anthony Richardson for 24 yards, and that was the night's work.
A few hours later, at around 1 a.m. Sunday, Indianapolis police arrested him downtown.
Allen faces two preliminary misdemeanor charges: operating a vehicle while intoxicated, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated in a manner that endangers a person. He was held at the Marion County Arrestee Processing Center and released Sunday afternoon. These are preliminary charges. Nothing has been proven.
The Colts said they were "in the process of gathering more information" and had "no further comment at this time."
Then, on Sunday evening, they named him to the 53-man roster.
That decision is the part worth sitting with, because it was made with everything known. The roster went out hours after the arrest, not before it, and Allen's name was on it alongside Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, Ashton Dulin, Laquon Treadwell and seventh-round rookie Deion Burks. Whatever the club works out about discipline in the days ahead, its first move was to keep him.
You can see why, and it has less to do with Allen than with the room he walked into.
The room he walked into
Pierce is the No. 1 receiver here, and he signed a four-year, $114 million extension in March to be exactly that. He also had ankle surgery in late March, after a platelet-rich plasma injection in January failed to settle the problem, and he has not played a regulation NFL game in more than eight months. He came off the physically unable to perform list on Thursday and took part in individual drills only. Shane Steichen's assessment was measured: "We have two weeks to get him ramped up." Asked whether Pierce would play in the opener at his usual snap count, nobody has said yes.
Behind him the attrition is real. Coleman Owen went to injured reserve with a concussion suffered Saturday. Tight end Will Mallory is on injured reserve with a thumb injury and a designation to return, which puts him out at least the first four games. D.J. Montgomery landed on injured reserve too.
This is not a decimated roster. It is a group with one receiver returning from a long absence, three bodies already on the shelf, and a 34-year-old veteran signed 11 days ago to give the whole thing a floor.
What Allen was brought in to be
Allen was supposed to be the stability. Six Pro Bowls, 1,055 career catches, 12,051 yards, 70 touchdowns. Indianapolis brought him in on Aug. 19 for the reason teams always bring in a receiver of that age and that resume, which is that you know roughly what you are getting and you do not have to teach him anything.
Baltimore is Week 1. If Pierce is limited, and if Allen's availability becomes a question the league rather than the club decides, the Colts open their season asking Downs, Dulin, Treadwell and a rookie to carry a passing game that was already short of certainty.
None of that is settled tonight. The charges are preliminary, the league has said nothing, and Pierce has two weeks. What is settled is that a receiver room with no margin got one more thing to absorb, on the same weekend it was supposed to be finalized.