The Kansas City Chiefs made one of the biggest moves ahead of the trade deadline when they acquired wide receiver Josh Downs from the Indianapolis Colts.
Downs will give quarterback Patrick Mahomes another much-needed weapon in the passing attack.
WR Josh Downs Reveals He Will Wear No. 12 With the Kansas City Chiefs
Downs spoke to the Kansas City media for the first time on Wednesday afternoon, and revealed that he plans to switch to the No. 12 jersey number with the Chiefs.
“No specific reason,” Downs said. “The equipment manager was like, hey, you wore 1 and you wore 2, so you could put them together. So, I’ll go with that.”
Wide receiver Tyquan Thornton, who is currently on injured reserve, wears Downs’ previous jersey number of 2. When Downs was drafted by the Colts in 2023, he wore No. 1. He switched to No. 2 when Indianapolis acquired cornerback Sauce Gardner in 2025, so Gardner could continue to wear No. 1.
Fellow receiver Xavier Worthy wears No. 1 for the Chiefs, so that wasn’t an option. Interestingly enough, however, No. 12 belonged to tight end Jared Wiley — who will now switch to No. 89. Players often pay the person whose number they take, so it was likely cheaper to pay for Wiley’s number rather than Worthy’s.
Josh Downs Is Pumped to Get to Work With Patrick Mahomes
Downs has never played with a quarterback the caliber of Patrick Mahomes. When asked how he plans to get on the same page with Mahomes, Downs said he needs to quickly learn the Chiefs’ offense.
“Build that relationship with him,” Downs said. “On the field when he throws me the ball, just catch it. Keep making plays when he throws it to me. Do anything I can to learn the offense as fast as possible. I don’t want to be a guy that’s asking everybody what the play is, what the formation is. That’s when you kind of get left behind. I want to do everything I can to learn as fast as possible.”
Downs’ best trait is his ability to get open against man coverage with his sharp route running. The Chiefs haven’t had a receiver that can do that consistently in several years. He can operate out on the boundary and inside the slot. Kansas City is banking on Downs to unlock another gear of its offense down the stretch of the season.
Chiefs WR Josh Downs Reveals His New Jersey Number