Pierce Got Another PRP Shot. The Colts Still Can't Tell You When He's Back.

Alec Pierce had another PRP injection in his left ankle on August 11. The team is not calling it a setback, which is the kind of language that technically means one thing and practically means another. What it means practically: the ankle still hurts enough to require ongoing pain management, and nobody in Indianapolis can give you a firm return date.

Pierce finished last season as the team's leading receiver — 1,003 yards and 6 touchdowns in 15 games — and he's listed out right now with no timetable attached. The receiver depth behind him is thin enough that this isn't just a personnel question, it's a structural one. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine is active, and Josh Downs had a solid season in the slot, but the Colts don't have a third option who logged meaningful snaps last year. That's the hole Pierce would leave open if Week 1 comes and he's still not cleared.

The Colts have had a genuinely good camp in some respects — Daniel Jones looks healthy, Jonathan Taylor is locked in on a new extension, DeForest Buckner is back. The pieces are there for a functional offense. But the receiver room was already the thinnest part of that picture before the ankle surgery, and a second PRP injection in mid-August does not suggest someone who's two weeks from full practice. My read is that the Colts need a contingency plan at the position, and they need it now rather than the week before the opener.