Alec Pierce Camp Update — August 31: Activated Off the PUP List
2026 NFL Season · Monday, Aug 31
Alec Pierce was activated from the physically-unable-to-perform list on Thursday and took individual drills, and the roster Indianapolis announced three days later keeps him, per the Colts' website. His own words: Week One is the goal, and there is rust to knock off.
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Alec Pierce practiced Thursday. The Colts activated him from the physically-unable-to-perform list, months on from the March ankle surgery, and he took individual drills — not team periods — per Abby Halpin at the Colts' website. Three days later he was on the initial 53, one of six receivers, per JJ Stankevitz at the same site. The team never had to make a deadline call on his designation; he came off the list before cutdown forced one.
Pierce put his own frame on it a day later, per Myles Simmons at ProFootballTalk: "Yeah, Week 1 is the goal," with an admission that he needs to "knock a little bit of rust off." On the stint itself, he said that sitting and watching film and walk-throughs "gets a little monotonous," and that "You want to be out there helping the team, making plays with the team." Worth saying precisely: Week One is Pierce's stated goal, not a team ruling, and nothing reported this week puts him in team periods.
The room he rejoined is smaller than the one he left. Keenan Allen played three snaps in the finale and caught a 24 yard pass on the opening drive, per Stankevitz — a game rep Pierce has no equivalent of. Anthony Gould was waived a day after leading Colts receivers in the finale, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was released, and two more receivers went to injured reserve, per Stankevitz. The six who stand: Allen, Deion Burks, Josh Downs, Ashton Dulin, Pierce and Laquon Treadwell.
Last week's episode said cutdown would be the first hard fact Pierce's rehab produced, and it produced a better one early: activation, then a roster spot. The June read holds — the skill was never the question, two straight seasons leading the league in yards per catch, and in 20 25 that meant 47 catches for a thousand three yards and six touchdowns in 15 games, 21.3 yards a catch and first among qualified receivers, our numbers. The ankle was the swing factor, and this week it finally swung toward the field. What remains between individual drills and a Week One deep ball is exactly the rust he named. We'll see how close he gets as Baltimore approaches.
_Data via nflverse._
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