Colts coach Shane Steichen defended the team's decision-making around Alec Pierce's heel injury, saying the club acted prudently in allowing the wide receiver to return to the field after offseason surgery. Pierce -- who Steichen said will be placed on injured reserve after a recurrence of his heel injury and will rehab in hopes of returning later this season -- returned to the lineup late last month after a lengthy absence following heel surgery in March.

The Colts were managing Pierce's snaps and practice reps to allow him to ramp up slowly after five months of rehab, but Pierce played in each of the Colts' first two games. He left Sunday's game late in the first quarter in obvious pain and was still unable to put any weight on his left foot after the game.

"We went through that rehab process, he hit all his landmarks, hit all his benchmarks, and then obviously we eased him back into practice," Steichen said. "The trainers and doctors felt good about it, [Pierce] felt good about it to go play; we limited him in practice working those first two weeks, he had limited reps Week 1." Injuries happen. You never want to see it happen, but we would have never put him on the field if we didn't feel good about it and he didn't feel good about it.

Pierce's injury prompted the Colts to sign veteran free agent Darius Slayton on Tuesday. Slayton, a longtime teammate of Colts quarterback Daniel Jones' with the New York Giants, was scheduled to practice Wednesday and hopes to play Sunday against the Houston Texans. Pierce led the NFL in yards per catch in each of the past two seasons and signed a four-year, $114 million contract in March.