The Indianapolis Colts are placing receiver Alec Pierce on injured reserve, three days after he hopped off the field at Kansas City after aggravating his injured left heel. Coach Shane Steichen made the announcement Wednesday. The move means Indy will be without its top receiver for at least four weeks.
The Colts host the Houston Texans on Sunday. Pierce had been held out of offseason work and all three preseason games after undergoing offseason surgery on his left ankle and heel. He was activated from the physically unable to perform list in late August, and had been steadily ramping up his activity over the past few weeks before appearing on last week's injury report with the heel injury.
The Colts remain hopeful Pierce won’t need another surgery. Steichen said Pierce hit all of his rehab benchmarks before being cleared to return, and he caught four passes for 61 yards against Baltimore in the season opener. Pierce received just one target – and made a catch – in Week 2 before aggravating his heel.
"Like I said, we limited him in practice, working those first two weeks into the first game," Steichen said. "We had limited his reps in Week 1. Injuries happen.
You know, you never want to see it, but we would never have put him on the field if we didn't feel good about it." Pierce dealt with a troublesome left ankle last season, but still appeared in 15 games and crossed the 1,000-yard receiving threshold for the first time in his career. He received a platelet-rich plasma treatment on his ankle in January, and when that didn't work, Pierce opted for surgery in March — after signing his four-year, $116 million contract extension, which kept him off the free-agent market. "We went through the process," Steichen said.
"He hit all his landmarks, and then, obviously, we eased him back into practice. The trainers and doctors felt good about it. He felt good about it, to go play." Indy signed veteran Darius Slayton on Tuesday to help plug the void left by Pierce, who led the NFL in yards receiving per catch among all qualified receivers each of the past two seasons.
Slayton caught 296 passes in seven seasons with the New York Giants, where he worked with Colts quarterback Daniel Jones for five and a half years. Indy also played without Ashton Dulin (ankle) last weekend in the overtime loss to the Chiefs. Third-year receiver Josh Downs will now move into the No.
1 role and will be paired with Slayton and six-time Pro Bowler Keenan Allen, who signed with Indy in mid-August and is now facing a potential suspension following an arrest on drunken driving charges. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
