Heading into this past offseason, the Indianapolis Colts had a few stated goals. One of those included re-signing wide receiver Alec Pierce, and the team achieved that by agreeing to a four-year deal for as much as $116 million with the wideout. Since he signed the deal, though, he hasn't played football.
The next time he will isn't known yet, either. He had ankle surgery in March to hopefully correct a long-standing problem (one he played through last year and did so while playing at a high level), but fans might wonder if the surgery made the issue worse.
Initially, he was thought to be able to return close to the start of training camp. At this point in camp, however, Pierce appears nowhere close to coming back. His appearance in Week 1 is definitely in jeopardy, and if he misses Week 1, how much more time could he miss? The truth is, the team doesn't know.
Alec Pierce doesn't appear close to returning to the Indianapolis Colts
After an evening practice on Thursday, head coach Shane Steichen was asked about the status of his newly minted WR1, and the coach gave one of his more meaningless answers in a long history of such responses. The essence of what he said was the frightening part.
Is there a known timeline for Pierce's return, coach Steichen?
"No, not right now," he answered, according to The Athletic's James Boyd. "His rehab’s going great, I’ll say that. I don’t have the timetable on his return, but he’s doing a hell of a job in his rehab process."
What the heck does that even mean? Ultimately, Alec Pierce is rehabbing from surgery nearly five months after he had it, but when he returns remains a mystery. For Steichen to say the receiver is working hard is just a poor attempt to toss some positivity into a situation looking more dire with each passing week.
The worst-case scenario, of course, would be that something went unexpectedly wrong with the surgery. No one is saying that, though. The truth might be that whatever the ankle problem was was far worse than what was being told to the media.
Which brings up a worse point. The Indianapolis Colts likely understood Pierce was hurt and still might have overpaid for a wideout who has yet to have 50 catches in a season. Pierce is explosive, sure, and arguably the most explosive player at his position in the NFL, but he needs to do the dirty work too of picking up first downs as a possession receiver would.
Plus, it is likely that had other potential suitors in free agency known about the extent of Pierce's injury (he appears to have had the surgery after he signed his four-year contract with Indianapolis), those teams probably wouldn't have offered as much money as Indy did. This would further imply that general manager Chris Ballard overpaid for Alec Pierce.
Thinking positively, though, Pierce has been one of the more underrated wide receivers in the league. No one boxes out better on deep passes than he does, for instance. As long as he comes back healthy in Week 1 or early in the season, he could have a true breakout year. That's the hope anyway.
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