This offseason hasn’t gone very well for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Bruce Gradkowski and now the hand injury that he suffered Sunday against the Green Bay Packers has landed him on injured reserve.
According to head coach Mike Tomlin, Gradkowski’s recent hand injury required surgery.
“Bruce Gradkowski had a hand surgery, today,” Tomlin said Tuesday at the conclusion of the team’s first post training camp practice. “I don’t have the update from that. Maybe he even has another surgery ahead of him, so I don’t know the extent in which he’s going to be out.”
Speculation is that Gradkowski will need shoulder surgery in the near future and that’s obviously what led to his season coming to a premature end. The team signed veteran Michael Vick to take his place on the roster. Vick worked out for the team Tuesday evening.
The Steelers appear to be dead set on carrying three quarterbacks once again on their 53 man roster with Landry Jones being the third.
Gradkowski started training camp off on the team’s Active PUP list as the shoulder issue that bothered him throughout most of the offseason practices still hadn’t healed completely. He was, however, removed from the PUP list just over a week ago and Sunday’s action was his first of the preseason.
Gradkowski injured his hand Sunday while attempting to recover a low shotgun snap from Chris Hubbard, a guard who was seeing his first game action at center.
Vick, who has passed for 22,093 yards during long career, played for the New York Jets in 2014. He completed 64 passes for 604 yards and three touchdowns last season. He also beat the Steelers 20-13 last season.
