If you are like me, you were disappointed to hear Saturday afternoon that Pittsburgh Steelers rookie cornerback Senquez Golson was placed on the Active PUP list after the team reported to Saint Vincent College in Latrobe for training camp. Golson, who apparently is suffering from some sort of lingering pain in his left shoulder, talked briefly about his injury when he arrived for camp.
“We finally were just kind of like, ‘Shut it down’ and figure out what we were going to do,” Golson said, according to Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “Just taking everything cautious right now. I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but just playing it day by day.”
According to Jacob Klinger of pennlive.com, Golson said he’s never been injured before so subsequently, the rehab process is new to him. He did reveal, however, that he’s currently “working on internal and external rotations of his shoulder” by using elastic bands and rows.
The fact that the under-sized Golson, who was drafted by the Steelers this year out of Mississippi in the second-round isn’t completely sure about his future status is a bit concerning. However, at least the team has time on their side being as they reported to training camp a week earlier than they normally do.
Being as the Steelers haven’t signed an additional cornerback body to their roster with Golson currently sidelined might could be viewed as a good sign as it relates to how long he’ll be out. If, however, the team does wind up signing another cornerback in the coming days, it could be a sign that Golson will miss an extended amount of time.
Any time missed by Golson at the beginning of camp is time that he will never get back and the longer that he remains sidelined is sure to hurt his chances of getting on the field during the early part of the season.
Last season, Golson led the South Eastern Conference in interceptions and while he might be diminutive in stature, he still showed the willingness and ability to tackle bigger players during his career at Mississippi. Additionally, he appears to have a better than average football I.Q. and that should help some with his transition into the NFL.
With Golson currently sidelined, young cornerbacks Doran Grant and Kevin Fogg will be the beneficiaries of more practice snaps. Grant, who was drafted by the Steelers in the fourth-round this year out of Ohio State, is expected to make the final 53-man roster out of training camp and be contributor on special teams at some point during his rookie season. As for Fogg, who ended the 2014 season on the Steelers practice squad, he reportedly had an interception during the team’s first training camp practice Sunday, albeit as a member of the third-team defense.
