According to the Associated Press, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie offensive guard David DeCastro is optimistic he’ll return at some point this season from a severe knee injury suffered in the preseason against the Buffalo Bills.
The report states that DeCastro is feeling better and that he reportedly is walking without a brace with his rehab currently keeping him limited to riding a stationary bike.
The Stanford product is attending team meetings, but has yet to be cleared to run yet. “I don\’t have any pain, so I\’m just working hard to try to get back,” DeCastro said.
“He\’s been in every meeting,” offensive coordinator Todd Haley said Thursday after practice. “He\’s doing all of the things that all of the young guys are doing. Some of that includes filling the refrigerator for the offensive line room, and the chip bag and snack box and all of those things. I saw him today on the bike and I thought that was encouraging. The key thing when you have an injury is that you stay in the mix mentally and he\’s all football, all the time. This is what he does.”
Ramon Foster has been filling in at right guard with DeCastro sidelined on a Steelers offensive line that has averaged just 2.64 yards a game to start the season. The offense looks to get a boost this Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles in the form of running back Rashard Mendenhall, who is on course to make his season debut after tearing his ACL late last season.
While the news is encouraging, DeCastro must spend at least eight weeks on the injured reserve after being given the new early return designation. With him yet to be cleared to run, it might be pushing it to expect him return to action immediately after the eight weeks is up, but that decision is still several weeks away right now.
