Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports via Twitter that rookie right guard David DeCastro will not be placed on injured reserve and that the Steelers will carry him on the 53 man roster for the time being.
DeCastro reportedly suffered extensive damage to his right knee early in the game against the Buffalo Bills this past Saturday night, but it appears that he at least did not tear his ACL. On Sunday it was reported that DeCastro suffered a torn MCL, a dislocated knee cap and damage to his patellar tendon. Mike Florio of PFT reports that DeCastro will have surgery later this week and that he is expected to miss three-to-five months.
Mike Tomlin confirmed today that DeCastro will have surgery on Wednesday.
Three-to-five months is a considerable amount of time to carry DeCastro on the 53 man roster so perhaps the Steelers do not think that he will be sidelined that long. At the very least they can watch how his rehab goes initially and make the decision at any time down the road to place him on injured reserve. Placing him on injured reserve can\’t be reversed so it seems that they will not make such a rash decision immediately.
In the mean time, Ramon Foster will likely start at right guard in the place of DeCastro. The decision to carry DeCatro on the 53 man roster might very well mean the Steelers intend on starting the season with just two quarterbacks on the roster. That means that veteran Charlie Batch could be released during the final roster cuts and that Jerrod Johnson might be signed to the practice squad.
