Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Mike Adams has officially been shut down for the remainder of the 2015 season as the former second-round draft pick out of Ohio State will remain on the team’s Reserve/PUP list after failing to resume practicing on Tuesday.
Adams, who started the 2015 season on the Steelers Reserve/PUP list following him needing surgery on his back in late July, needed to begin practicing on Tuesday if he wanted a chance to return to the team’s 53-man roster this season.
Being as Adams is currently in the final year of his rookie contract, there’s a good chance he’s played his last snap in Pittsburgh. During his first three seasons with the Steelers, Adams dressed for 41 regular-season games of which he started 20.
At the start of the 2013 season, Adams was given the starting left tackle job out of training camp almost by default. However, after the first four games of the season, he found himself on the bench due to poor play in favor of Kelvin Beachum.
While Adams did wind up playing 235 more offensive snaps over the course of the Steelers final 12 regular season games in 2013, most of those snaps consisted of him playing as a second blocking tight end. He did, however, start the Week 14 game against the Miami Dolphins as Beachum was unable to play in that game due to an injury.
Last season, Adams played 390 snaps and started four games at right tackle in place of Marcus Gilbert, who was sidelined with an ankle injury.
While Adams failed to play a single snap in 2015, he’s still likely to get some attention from other teams during free agency assuming he’s able to overcome his latest back injury.
