Colts' Chris Ballard Gives Updates On Critical Injuries
· Yahoo Sports
WESTFIELD, Ind. — The Indianapolis Colts will be deeply reliant in 2026 on certain star players who are returning from injuries from last season.
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The team has descended upon Grand Park Sports Complex in Westfield, Ind., this week to begin their training camp, and the status of the injured players was top of mind.
REST ASSURED, QB1 IS BACK
None are more paramount than quarterback Daniel Jones, who tore his right Achilles tendon in Week 14, underwent surgery less than a week later in December, but is now fully cleared to resume football activities for the start of the team's training camp practices on Wednesday.
"So, Daniel Jones cleared. He's good to go," Colts general manager Chris Ballard told reporters on Tuesday. "He's worked his butt off. Since the day of the injury when it happened, he – of course, a mourning period for a day or two. But then, ‘All right, what do I need to do to get back?’ And so he went to work, and he's been cleared. It'll be a day-by-day thing, but he's cleared to go, and cleared to do everything."
Jones had already begun participating in 7-on-7 team drills during the team's minicamp in June, but he'd yet to be allowed to do 11-on-11s, which he will now begin doing.
OPTIMISTIC TIMELINE FOR ALEC PIERCE
Jones signed a new two-year, $88 million deal with the Colts in the offseason, but it wasn't the most lucrative contract signed by a returning Colt. Wide receiver Alec Pierce agreed to a four-year, $114 million extension to stay on board with Jones and the Colts.
The only issue is that Pierce will be stepping into the Colts' top receiver role for the first time in his career, but he's yet to set foot on the practice field due to ankle surgery in March. Fortunately, Ballard and the Colts don't expect him to be out much longer after starting camp with an Active/Physically Unable to Perform designation.
"Pierce, who had his surgery in March, he's getting there. He's close, probably still a week or two away," Ballard said. "We'll kind of take it day-by-day, but making great progress. He's worked. I don't foresee it being a major issue. Of course, I'd like to have him right now, but Pierce is working his butt off, and he'll be ready to go when he's completely cleared."
Pierce has held a relatively similar role in the Colts' passing game for much of his career since being drafted in the second round in 2022: downfield threat. He does it as well as anyone in the league, leading the NFL in yards per reception in each of the last two seasons.
However, Pierce's route tree will be expanding to incorporate more routes than he's been asked to run consistently before, so the Colts need to see him back on the field as soon as possible
Until Pierce is back, expect to see more of Ashton Dulin, Laquon Treadwell, and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine getting work as the first-team X-receiver.
SIGH OF RELIEF FOR DEFOREST BUCKNER
The most threatening and uncertain of injuries was a herniated disc in defensive tackle DeForest Buckner's neck. After not participating in any of the on-field portion of the offseason program, one of the early pleasant surprises of camp is that Buckner is cleared and ready to go.
"He's in a good frame of mind," Ballard said of Buckner. "We'll work him back in slowly. I mean, Buck has had some years in the league. So, we would take care of him anyways, but we'll work him back and get him ready for Week 1 versus Baltimore."
At 32 and coming off of the injury he suffered, it's logical to think Buckner may need to begin scaling back his playing time, but the Colts don't see it that way.
“I think he'll have a full workload," Ballard said when asked if Buckner will need to rotate out more this season. "I think with all our D-linemen, anytime you have a guy playing 80 percent, 75 percent – that's a lot over a 17-game season. And there's no question we'd like to (rotate him). I think we've got a little better depth inside this year. That's going to be one of the competitions. It’s going to be really fun to watch, which I think is going to be good, and I think it's going to be helpful for him.”
WON'T WAIT LONG TO SEE STAR ROOKIE IN ACTION
The last injury Ballard addressed was an unknown ailment entering camp: rookie linebacker CJ Allen's tweaked calf.
"As you saw yesterday, CJ has a muscle strain," Ballard said. "CJ Allen, we don't think it's going to be long. More being, taking some precautions here. We don't want it just to linger. So, we started him on PUP. We expect him back pretty quickly."
That is certainly positive news for a player who will be of critical importance to the Colts' defensive plans in 2026.
Until Allen returns, we will likely see Akeem Davis-Gaither and Bryce Boettcher get the main workload at linebacker with the first-team defense.
The Colts begin training camp practices on Wednesday morning at 10:00 a.m. ET.