Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen was rightfully non-committal on whether rehabbing lead wideout Alec Pierce will still return this season—and rightfully so:
The Colts returning lead wideout from last season has been out since Week 2 on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs,
when he reinjured his left heel and was subsequently placed on injured reserve.
Pierce had previously missed all of this past training camp and preseason after undergoing a once thought minor cleanup surgery on that same heel in late March. However, after an expedited return to the football field, he reinjured it just a few weeks later on Sunday Night Football primetime. He hasn’t played for the Colts since.
On the 2026 season, Pierce has 5 receptions for 72 total receiving yards during 2 starts.
Of course, with the Colts currently sitting at a disappointing 2-7, and having undergone a recent fire sale of key veterans and even some young players alike, it doesn’t make much sense to rush Pierce back to the football field again anytime soon—even though Indianapolis was initially targeting (and realistically hopeful) for a potential midseason return.
It’s not like they certainly couldn’t use Pierce given their remaining patchwork wide receiver room of Laquon Treadwell, Ashton Dulin, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Anthony Gould, and rookie Deion Burks, but with this clearly being another lost season in Indianapolis, there’s no reason to risk him suffering another setback.
Giving that we’re in Week 10, it seems as though the Colts have pushed back that potential midseason return, and if Pierce even does return much later in the season, it will likely mean that he’s fully, and I mean fully cleared physically. He shouldn’t be rushed or have his return to the football field expedited by any means whatsoever.
My calculated safe guess though is that we won’t see him until the start of the 2027 campaign for the Colts.
