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Wrist injury limits Alec Pierce, but he's expected to play in Week 2.
Colts rotating linebackers, with rookie CJ Allen inactive in opener.
Communication problems on defense, as Cam Bynum handled playcalling for first time.
Indianapolis Colts v Houston Texans - NFL 2025
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Colts Monday Notebook: Alec Pierce Wrist Update
INDIANAPOLIS – The Colts are used to having to respond to a season-opening loss.
Sunday marked the 12th time in the last 13 seasons the Colts have lost in Week 1.
But this one came at home by 18 points, with the Colts hoping that is not any sort of foreshadowing for the 2026 season.
Next up is a trip to Kansas City in Week 2.
What did we learn from the Colts on Monday?
-“He’s good right now,” was Shane Steichen’s Monday update on the injured left wrist of Alec Pierce. Pierce ended up playing 32 of the team’s 54 offensive snaps in the opener, mostly being limited due to coming back from spring heel/ankle surgery. Pierce’s presence was felt less in Sunday’s first half, when he did spend some opening-quarter time back in the locker room, getting X-rays on an injured left wrist. Pierce ended the first half with 2 targets and 1 catch, before finishing the game with 4 grabs for 61 yards. Pierce mentioned after Sunday’s loss that his wrist injury hindered him a bit in securing a 3rd-and-6 catch in the second half. This will be something to watch as Pierce continues to ramp up from his heel/ankle injury, too.
-At the linebacker position, defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo said he was going to rotate some guys through there. It ended up being a 3-linebacker rotation across the 68 defensive snaps. The starters were Akeem Davis-Gaither (64 snaps, 8 tackles) and Jaylon Carlies (42 snaps, 0 tackles). Rookie Bryce Boettcher (23 snaps, 6 tackles) was the lone linebacker to play off the bench. That meant the extremely rare 0 snaps played (on defense and special teams) for rookie CJ Allen. On Monday, Steichen was asked about Allen’s debut of watching: “With training camp and just getting him back with the (hamstring) injury, he’s still a young player, developing, learning,” the head coach said. “Once he’s ready to go and we feel like he’s ready to go, he’ll be out there. But right now, we are just going through that process right now.” Allen did miss around half of camp/the preseason, but has been back practicing for multiple weeks. For Week 2, I’ll be curious if the Colts explore swapping Boettcher and Carlies at all, assuming Davis-Gaither maintains that MIKE linebacker role.
-Shane Steichen had quite the list of issues from the Colts humbling 18-point loss in the opener: communication, tackling, special teams penalties, needing to be better in moving the football when backed up. On the communication front, the Colts had some definite issues lining up defensively, as safety Cam Bynum was handling those duties for the first time in his career. Steichen said the Colts need to be better post-play at guys “getting back in the huddle.” The Colts are incorporating 5 new defensive starters in 2026.
-After suffering 3 concussions last season, Charvarius “Mooney” Ward Sr. decided to put on a guardian cap prior to Sunday’s kickoff. It was the first time Ward has worn one in a game. Why did Ward decided to wear one? “I was scared to get knocked out again, for real,” he said on Monday. “So I just put the guardian cap on. I warmed up with it, and it felt good when I wore it through warmups, so I just kept it on all game. I might as well keep it for the season. It’s not going to hurt me. I think I’m going to wear it for the season.” Ward said he had a bit of a headache on Monday, but doesn’t think it’s another concussion. On the cornerback front, the Colts are scheduled to get veteran Cam Taylor-Britt back in Week Two. Taylor-Britt missed Week 1 due to a one-game suspension from an off the field incident last year. During the preseason, Taylor-Britt was routinely running right around the 4th cornerback spot.
-The current reality of the Colts is Sunday marked their 8th consecutive loss dating back to last season. It’s the longest active losing streak in the NFL (the 5-year playoff drought is currently the 3rd longest postseason absence). Upon hearing that, Shane Steichen didn’t express a lack of confidence when that note was presented. “Because there’s so much football to be played,” the head coach said. “I think obviously last year was the last year and I don’t want to keep rehashing that but I think you saw the confidence that we played with early in the season and we got those same guys back to do that. The first game is behind us now and we got to move on to Kansas City.”
-The Colts will get back to practice on Wednesday, with another Wednesday-Friday practice week, leading into a Week 2 trip to take on the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football.