By the sound of things, Pittsburgh Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey should be ready to participate in training camp later on this year after missing the entire 2015 season with a broken fibula that he suffered during the preseason.
According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com, Maurkice’s twin brother, Mike Pouncey, said Monday that the Steelers center has had no limitations when it comes to his offseason workouts and that the two of them have been training together in South Florida.
While Maurkice Pouncey seems to be currently on the right track as far as his rehab goes, according to Mike Pouncey, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin isn’t ready to say when his center will be allowed to begin practicing during the offseason.
“What he’s capable of doing and what I allow him to do might be two different things,” Tomlin said Monday while in Boca Raton for the league’s annual meetings, according to Fowler. “I hadn’t had those discussions of that juncture. More than anything, I’ve been watching some of those guys go through the rehabilitation process.”
After initially undergoing surgery to repair his broken left fibula, Maurkice Pouncey reportedly had to undergo a second procedure in October due because infection had set in. As a result, Maurkice wound up spending the entire 2015 season on the Steelers Reserve/Injured list after initially being placed there with the designated to return tag.
While backup center Cody Wallace filled in admirably for Maurkice Pouncey last season, he was easily the weakest link on the Steelers offensive line.
Over the course of the last three seasons, Pouncey has played in only 17 regular season games as he missed 15 games in 2013 due to torn ligaments in his right knee that he suffered when guard David DeCastro hit him from behind while attempting to perform a cut block early in that year’s season-opening loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Maurkice Pouncey signed a five-year, $44,136,625 contract extension with the Steelers on June 12, 2014.
