For much of the offseason, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been firm in his belief that tight end Heath Miller will be ready to go for the season opener against the Tennessee Titans. As of Friday, you can now add tight end Matt Spaeth to the Miller optimist club.
According to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Spaeth, who has been working out with Miller, said he wouldn\’t be surprised if the Steelers all-everything tight end made it back for the Titans game.
Of course, neither Roethlisberger nor Spaeth own medical degrees, but they both must have a pretty good idea as to where Miller\’s head is currently at right now in regard to his rehab. We already know that the veteran tight end was running 100-yard sprints as the OTA practices were winding down, so he\’s definitely making good progress.
As of Friday, Miller is seven months removed from his surgery, and as expected, he was placed on the PUP list where he will stay until he is ready to practice with the team. Miller doesn\’t need to play in any of the preseason games, so he basically has another month and a half to continue rehabbing before the start of the season.
Should Miller not be ready for the first week of the season, he might be close enough to returning that the Steelers won\’t need to place him on the Reserve PUP list to start the season.
Miller apparently didn\’t talk to the media upon his arrival to Latrobe for training camp, but I suspect he will be answering a few questions about where he is currently at in his rehab process over the course of the next few days.
