It's almost 2 weeks since Colts said Alec Pierce would be back in 2 weeks, what's the latest?

WESTFIELD – Reggie Wayne wants to see the Colts’ No. 1 wide receiver back on the field – for more reason than one.

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“He’s getting on my nerves,” the team’s wide receivers coach joked Sunday in reference to Alec Pierce, who remains sidelined two weeks into the Colts training camp following a late-March surgery to “clean up” a nagging injury that previous, less-invasive treatments hadn’t fully repaired. “He’s definitely locked in. I just got through talking with him about his rehab and where he is, and I’m excited for him, man.

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“He’s upbeat, and if he’s upbeat, that means he’s where he wants to be and where he needs to be.”

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Placed on the team’s physically unable to perform list to start training camp, Pierce has been a regular attendee for the first nine days of the Colts training camp, albeit roaming the sidelines, frequently in Wayne’s ear, playing catch with his receivers coach or coaching up some of his team’s younger wideouts hoping to make the most of the added reps they’ve seen in his absence.

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Colts general manager Chris Ballard told reporters he expected Pierce to miss one or two weeks of camp July 28, the day before the team’s camp-opening practice. Close to two weeks later, the Colts have yet to offer a concrete update on where Pierce is at in his recovery process. With the team’s preseason game coming Thursday at the Patriots and with just one practice – a joint one with New England – on Tuesday between today and the game, a return to the field before next weekend would seem unlikely.

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“No, not right now,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen told reporters Thursday night when asked if the team had a timetable for Pierce’s return after his eighth missed practice of training camp. “His rehab is going great, I’ll say that. I don’t have a timetable on his return but he’s doing a hell of a job in his rehab.”

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When asked a similar question last Monday, Steichen said, “I know that he’s working, he’s heading in the right direction, for sure. I feel really good about that.”

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Pierce has missed the team’s entire offseason workout program, having undergone surgery only a couple weeks after inking a four-year, $114 million free agent contract with the Colts in mid-March to stay in Indianapolis and inherit the team’s unquestioned No. 1 receiver role in the wake of the team’s trade of veteran wideout Michael Pittman Jr.

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In June, Pierce told reporters he had initially received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection for his injured ankle days after the end of the 2025 season – a procedure meant to speed up the body’s natural healing process of an inflamed ligament, tendon, muscle or joint. Needing to wait six-to-eight weeks to give the PRP injection proper time to do its job, Pierce and his doctors couldn’t come to the conclusion that a further procedure would be needed until a week or so into March. At that time, he’d returned to light jogging but eventually knew the shot hadn’t fully done its job.

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“We talked with the doctors, and they said the surgery was the smartest play for the long term. They were kinda saying I would have to do it at some point, and then I asked about the timeframe (for recovery), and he said 4 to 6 months, and it was already late-March,” Pierce said in June. “Hearing that timeframe made for a quick turnaround.

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“We could do it in 11 months after (the 2026) season but they started talking about the risks and stuff, and we just determined that it was smart to take care of it now with the risk of having a worse injury happen during the season.”

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Undergoing surgery in late-March with a four-to-six-month recovery window immediately put Pierce’s return for training camp – beginning four months from then – in doubt. Though Pierce will be six months out from surgery around Week 3 of the regular season, there’s been no indication from the team that he could miss regular season games.

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The receiver said in June the pain in his ankle intensified toward the end of the season, just as he managed to complete his first career 1,000-yard season (1,003 to be exact) while leading the league in yards per catch (21.3) for the second year running. He managed six touchdowns on 47 catches to boot.

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With the loss of Michael Pittman in a trade to the Steelers in March, the Colts have planned for Pierce to take on an elevated, well-rounded receiving role. Pierce, No. 2 receiver Josh Downs and starting tight end Tyler Warren all stand to land increases in their responsibilities and production with the loss of Pittman’s 80 catches, 784 yards and seven touchdowns.

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Just over one month until the team’s season opener, the Colts are currently without Pierce, Downs and Laquon Treadwell – the latter two who’ve missed the last couple practices with groin and hamstring injuries, respectively – leaving Indianapolis without three of its top-6 receiver options at the moment. Wayne, though, urged caution, as some fans have begun to worry about Pierce’s readiness and effectiveness for the start of what is all but a make-or-break season for Colts brass.

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“Obviously, we know what he means to our (receiver) room,” Wayne said. “But I just want him whenever he’s 100%. I don’t want him 85%. I don’t want him 80%. I need him 100%.

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“However long that takes, it is what it is.”

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Joel A. Erickson and Nathan Brown cover the Colts all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Colts Insider newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: It's almost 2 weeks since Colts said Alec Pierce would be back in 2 weeks, what's the latest?

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