INDIANAPOLIS — Colts wide receiver Alec Pierce will begin training camp on the physically unable to perform list. The team announced the move on Monday ahead of the team’s first camp practice on Wednesday. Pierce underwent ankle surgery this offseason and is still recovering. The Colts also placed rookie linebacker CJ Allen (calf) on the PUP list.A player on the PUP list can be removed at any point throughout training camp, per NFL rules.The Colts kept Pierce in Indianapolis by signing the free agent to a four-year, $114 million deal just as the legal tampering period opened. The deal made Pierce the 13th-highest paid wideout in the NFL based on annual salary, per Spotrac.Did 2025 Indianapolis Colts have 'perfect' wide receiver room?Robert MaysPierce, a 2022 second-round pick, has not practiced since inking his new deal. While sidelined during minicamp this spring, Pierce revealed that he was facing a four- to six-month rehab timeline after undergoing left ankle surgery in late March. A four-month recovery would have made him available for the start of training camp, but the team will have to wait longer for its top receiver to return to the field.“We’ll get him ramped up during training camp,” Colts coach Shane Steichen told ESPN on Saturday, two days before Pierce officially landed on the PUP list. “The goal is to be ready for Week 1.”Pierce said in June that he initially opted to receive a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection in his ankle at the end of last season, with the hope of avoiding surgery. The injection came with a six- to eight-week recovery timeline, but after not feeling much relief in his ankle, he moved forward with surgery. Pierce never disclosed what his specific ankle injury is; however, he noted that he’d been managing increasing “discomfort” since 2024.“Usually, Fridays would be pretty tough because we had just practiced Wednesday (and) Thursday,” Pierce said in June. “I understand I’m not gonna feel 100 percent (during the season), and I was kind of fine. But I knew once I got to the game day, and I was still not feeling great, just a lot of discomfort, that’s when I knew it was probably … something I needed to figure out.”Pierce is expected to take over as quarterback Daniel Jones’ top target after the Colts traded Michael Pittman Jr. to the Pittsburgh Steelers in March. Pittman led Indy in catches in four of the past five years. Pierce, meanwhile, has led the league in yards per reception in back-to-back seasons (22.3 in 2024 and 21.3 in 2025). He logged 1,003 yards and six TDs on just 47 catches last year, joining Mike Williams (2019) and DeSean Jackson (2010) as just the third NFL player in the last 30 years to reach 1,000 yards on fewer than 50 receptions.Pierce’s early absence from training camp should open up more opportunities for a Colts wide receiver room that features more questions than answers. Josh Downs is clearly Indy’s No. 2 receiver and a proven playmaker, but the rest of the group is not as solidified. Veterans Ashton Dulin and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine will have a shot at earning the third starting receiver job, and rookie seventh-round pick Deion Burks could get some looks as well.Depending on how long Pierce is out, the Colts may even consider signing another veteran receiver as insurance. Kennan Allen is one to keep in mind. Despite being 34 and having some overlapping skills with Downs in the slot, the six-time Pro Bowler tallied 81 catches for 777 yards and four TDs with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2025. That was his ninth straight season with at least 700 yards and four touchdowns. Allen previously played under Steichen when the coach was the Chargers’ offensive coordinator in 2019 and 2020.