Colts WR Alec Pierce expected to be ready for regular season opener against Ravens

According to head coach Shane Steichen, Indianapolis Colts lead wideout Alec Pierce is expected to be ready for the team’s regular season opener against the Baltimore Ravens this weekend (via ESPN’s Stephen Holder):

Having been activated off PUP, Pierce has recently been participating with his teammates in practice since last week, and the recovery timeline expectation all along is that he would be ready for Week 1—having undergone ankle/heel surgery in March. However, there was initial hope that he may return during late training camp, which of course, did not quite happen.

Obviously, his return will be a big one for a Colts wide receiver corps that faces a Ravens secondary that was porous last season, ranking 30th at 247.9 passing yards per game. It gives the Colts wide receiver unit a frontline unit of Pierce, veteran Keenan Allen, and slot Josh Downs for returning starting quarterback Daniel Jones to throw to.

The current injury news is a little less encouraging on rookie safety AJ Haulcy, who is battling an ankle injury, but otherwise would be the projected starter alongside veteran Cam Bynum in the backend of the Colts secondary.

Haulcy “hasn’t been ruled in or out” by Steichen yet, as his injury status still remains fluid (via The Athletic’s James Boyd). If Haulcy cannot ultimately go, it would be 2nd-year safety Hunter Wohler as ‘the next man up.’