Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said in his post game press conference following their 17-16 preseason win over the Carolina Panthers that rookie linebacker Sean Spence is currently in the hospital after suffering what he called a “significant” knee injury.
Spence injured the left knee late in the 3rd quarter while chasing Panthers quarterback Jimmy Clausen out of the pocket. The left foot of Spence appeared to get caught in the loose turf of Heinz Field. The 3rd round pick out of Miami will most likely be lost for the season as the early reports via PFT are that Spence suffered a torn ACL, a torn LCL and a dislocated kneecap.
The Steelers linebacker group is very thin right now as both James Harrison and Jason Worilds are fresh off of the PUP list and neither have taken a snap for the entire preseason or training camp. In addition, inside linebacker Stevenson Sylvester is still recovering fro a torn MCL suffered during one of the final practices at Latrobe.
Tomlin also said after the game that rookie free agent safety Robert Golden suffered a hamstring injury and that he did not yet know the severity of it. Also he told the media that he did not know whether or not the knee injury suffered by cornerback Curtis Brown earlier in the game was major or minor as of yet as he is still being evaluated.
