Colts' Alec Pierce Talks Ankle Surgery, Timeline for Return

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts rewarded Alec Pierce with a four-year, $114 million contract this offseason, which is the richest free-agent contract for a wide receiver in NFL history.

Pierce is expected to develop into the team's top receiver after Michael Pittman Jr. was traded away this offseason. However, seeing Pierce in this expanded role will have to wait.

He underwent surgery on his left ankle in late March, which will kept him out of the entire offseason program, with the hope that he returns during training camp in late July/August.

Pierce spoke to the media on Wednesday for the first time since news of his ankle procedure came out.

"It had been bothering me since the end of the 2024 season. So, it just was just dealing with that and kind of finding ways, but it definitely got a little bit worse as the season went on. Probably the last month, I'd say, was kind of struggling. The fact that I'd say, practice, had taken some days off and stuff. Yeah, I'm glad they kind of figured out what the issue was, and we were able to figure it out, fix it...

"I would say it was just a lot of discomfort. I think I knew it was an issue in the last month of the season when on game day I wasn't very good at all. I go out there on Wednesday or Thursday or the third day in a row practicing, like usually Fridays would be pretty tough because we just practice Wednesday, Thursday. I understand I'm not going to feel 100% then, and that was kind of fine. But I knew, like, once I got to the game day, and I was still not feeling great, you know, just a lot of discomfort to be honest. That's when I knew it was something I needed to figure out. And then, I ended up just talking with the doctor and talked about the risks that I had. I think that was another thing that I was like, 'Okay, get this fixed. Can you get this addressed for the long term?'"

"We talked with the doctor, and I think we determined that surgery was the smartest play for the long term. They kind of were saying I was going to have to do it at some point. And then, when I asked him about the time frame, he said like four to six months, and it was late March. So then I was like, 'Okay, well, four months gets me basically to camp.' I'm like, you know, kind of somewhere in there, I should be back, I think, like right before the season. Or ready to go sometime during camp, whether that's the beginning or the end, you know? So, just hearing that time frame, then it was a quick turnaround, right? Because it was like, 'Okay, if we're going to do this, we've got to do this now.' Because they were thinking he was telling me this was something we need to do in the next 12 months,  we could do it in 11 months, after next season, and then I started talking about the kind of the risks and stuff like that. I think we just determined that it was smart to take care of it now with the risk that a worse injury would happen during the season..."

"I got a PRP shot done, which is very inflammatory. So, I got that done, like a day or two after the season, to see if it would help it heal. That's like a six-to-eight-week process, and I was in a boot for maybe two or three weeks of the first of it, and then basically started rehab from there. The rehab was very, I got back to right around that March time. I think I was back to jogging, but still nothing too explosive. So we were seeing how that shot reacted and seeing if that helped kind of heal it. I don't think it did as much as we wanted it to. It didn't fix the problem. So that was kind of the first two months. Tried that first more as like a band-aid type solution. Short term, I'd say. Didn't work out."

"I think obviously we want the day to be as early as possible, but kind of got to let your body guide yourself, and see how you feel because what I'm learning with the rehab is the more you overdo it, the more sore you get, which can sometimes be counterproductive. So, I'm learning when to push through the pain and soreness and when to back off. And I think it's really interesting how smart your body is. I think I'm getting in tune with how I feel and stuff like that, and just learning that, this achy pain is fine, but the sharp pain that's kind of like your guideline, 'Okay, maybe we're doing a little too much. Maybe this is a little too aggressive. Maybe we take a step back.' Because what I noticed is, when you really kind of push through that stuff, and because I was used to the sharp pain, I felt a lot of that pretty much most of the year last year during the season. So kind of just learning that is not great for the rehab, because what I learned is, I woke up the next day and I was down pretty bad, and they're like, 'Okay, we need to kind of address that,' and they're kind of telling me, 'Okay, you've got to let the the pain kind of guide your body and work through some things.'"

"I don't think it did because we went with the PRP shot, and that was a thing that's an eight-week process. So, even then, a month in, I'm saying, 'Hey, I don't feel great. I don't think this is working.' They're telling me, 'Okay, you've still got to wait.' Like this is a thing that takes time to heal. Who knows? Probably in March and April, it was still helping me, too. So, at least that's what they say. So, yeah, that was, I think, really the timeline and, you know, kind of what delayed everything."

"Yeah, I'm jogging. AlterG treadmill, stuff like that."