INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) -- Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce is recovering from surgery on his ankle that he got this offseason.
Earlier this offseason, he also re-signed with the Colts on a four-year, $114 million deal, which was the largest free-agent deal a wide receiver had signed in NFL history.
Pierce is not practicing during mandatory minicamp this week and might not be back until after the start of training camp.
Pierce went into detail on what the timeline for his recovery is, sharing what his doctor told him.
"When I asked him about what the timeframe was, he said like 4-6 months, and it was late March," Pierce said. "So then I was like, okay, four months gets me basically to (training) camp, or kind of somewhere in there. I should be back, I think, right before the season or ready to go sometime during camp, whether that's the beginning or the end. So just hearing that timeframe, then it was a quick turnaround because they were like, okay, if we're going to do this, we got to do this now."
Pierce said surgery was the smartest decision for his long-term health. He did try a different solution right after the season ended.
"I got a PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) shot done, which is very inflammatory, so I got that done a day or two after the season to see if it would help it heal," Pierce said. "That's a 6-8 week process."
Pierce was in a boot for the first two or three weeks after the shot. He said he was back to jogging in March. He chose to try the shot to see if that healed the ankle issue, but he said it was more of a short-term fix.
As for how he is feeling now, Pierce said on Wednesday that he is doing well and thinks he is right on time.
The ankle issue had been bothering Pierce since the end of the 2024 season. He said it got worse as the 2025 season went on.
"It was just a lot of discomfort," Pierce said. "I think where I knew it was an issue was in the last month of the season, when on game day I wasn't feeling very good at all."
Pierce set a new career high in receptions and yards in 2025, hauling in 47 passes for 1,003 yards and six touchdowns.
