For the past 5 months, Indianapolis Colts’ WR Alec Pierce has had to give up his helmet for a front-row observer’s seat as he spent spring practices and training camp standing directly behind the QBs to keep his mind sharp. The frustrating waiting game might’ve started in 2026; however, the onset began with a lingering ankle issue from late 2024. But he battled through the pain during his breakout 1,000+ receiving-yard campaign in 2025. Now, the wait is finally over. 

The Indianapolis Colts officially removed Alec Pierce from the Active/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list on Thursday, August 27, 2026, after he underwent surgery in late March on his left ankle. Pierce managed to beat the 53-man roster cut deadline. This ensures that he won’t have to miss any games, as the automatic 4-game regular-season ban won’t apply to him now, and the WR can start practicing with the team immediately.

“Colts are activating WR Alec Pierce off PUP today, as @mchappell51 reported. Pierce underwent ankle surgery in March and now will start ramping up with hopes of returning for the Colts’ regular-season opener,” Adam Schefter wrote on X.

The road to recovery was not easy for the player, since he continued to struggle with lingering pain through December 2025, and another attempt to avoid surgery, via a Platelet-Rich Plasma injection and subsequent two months of rest, failed to improve the situation. 

“It definitely got a little bit worse as the season went. Probably the last month, I’d say I was kind of struggling, affected practice, and I’d taken some days off. I’m glad they figured out what the issue was,” Alec Pierce stated earlier this offseason, per Colts.com’s JJ Stankevitz.

Finally, at the beginning of March, the medical staff recommended undergoing a clean-up surgery to prevent any further degeneration of the affected tissues. 

Alec Pierce was fresh off signing a massive 4-year, $114 million contract extension in March 2026. The Indianapolis front office kept their intentions transparent by trading longtime WR1 Michael Pittman Jr. to the Pittsburgh Steelers, officially handing Pierce the keys as the main man in the WR room on offense.

The contract was well deserved after his monstrous 2025 campaign for the Colts, where he accumulated 1,003 receiving yards and 6 TDs on 47 receptions. Pierce led the entire league in yards per reception with 21.3. 

Pierce recorded these stats even though he was injured throughout the season. Heading into the 2026 season healthy, Colts fans can expect a lot more from the WR. 

“Mentally, it is tough,” Pierce said of the recovery, “but you just gotta find ways to try to stay in it because you’re going to be in those meetings and stuff. It’s good to be around the guys; they keep your spirits up and stuff, because sitting watching film, watching walkthrough, watching practice, it gets a little monotonous. You want to be out there helping the team, making plays with the team, working with them, but the guys have been great. They’ve been checking in with me. Other than just not being on the field, it’s been the same.”

Now that he is cleared, Colts head coach Shane Steichen plans to ramp up his reps slowly before introducing him to full-team drills. The Colts host the Ravens in their season opener on September 13. That gives Pierce over 2 full weeks to prepare his body and shape his mindset and conditioning for making the WR1 role in Week 1.