The Colts’ receiver picture changed twice before kickoff, and both moves landed on Saturday.
Indianapolis placed Alec Pierce on injured reserve after he aggravated the ankle and heel he had surgery on in March, then added Anthony Gould to the 53-man roster from the practice squad and elevated Nick Westbrook-Ikhine for the Week 3 game against the Houston Texans. The timing matters because the Colts will release their inactive list about 90 minutes before the 1 p.m. ET kickoff, and the receiver group already had questions attached to it.
Pierce’s move to injured reserve means he will miss at least the next four games and possibly more. It also removes him from the Week 3 inactive picture entirely — not because he is available and being held out, but because the Colts had to make a roster move to replace him.
That leaves the Colts trying to sort out who is actually available against Houston.
A separate report described the Colts’ inactive list as a receiver problem for Week 3, and the concern only grew when Ashton Dulin was ruled out Friday with an ankle injury. With Pierce on injured reserve and Dulin unavailable, the Colts go into their first divisional game of the 2026 season with a thinner receiving group and more uncertainty than they wanted this early in the schedule.
The response came quickly. Gould was signed to the 53-man roster Saturday, and Westbrook-Ikhine was elevated from the practice squad. Those moves give Indianapolis more bodies for game day, but they also underline how much the Colts had to adjust in a matter of hours.
Burks and veteran Anthony Gould may be needed to step up against the Texans, and Josh Downs is anticipated to play. That combination leaves the Colts with a very different receiver rotation than the one they expected when the week began.
The final inactive list will show how the Colts sort through the rest of the depth chart, but the bigger story is already set: Pierce’s injury forced a same-week roster reset, and Indianapolis had to answer it before facing Houston.