Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers have played their first two games of the 2016 regular season, four more will need to be played before injured tight end Ladarius Green is eligible to be activated from the team’s Reserve/PUP list. On Monday, Green updated his health status and was asked if he thinks he’ll be ready to return for the Steelers’ Week 7 game against the New England Patriots.
“It’s a good possibility,” Green said in the locker room Monday afternoon, according to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We’ll see. I don’t want to jinx it, but the rehab is going good. My ankle feels good running.”
You’ll notice that there wasn’t any mention by Green about the recurring headaches that have reportedly plagued him for several months and that are believed to be the real reason as to why he wasn’t ready to play by the start of the regular season. The Steelers have still yet to give credence to any of those several reports and have stood firm that their decision to place Green on Reserve/PUP a few weeks ago was solely because of his surgically repaired ankle not yet being fully healed.
If you missed the comments made on Saturday about Green by his former position coach Pete Metzelaars, I highly suggest you read or listen to them. In short, Metzelaars said he believed the headache problems that Green suffered from last season as a member of the San Diego Chargers were mostly related to his sinuses and that he thought that problem had been taken care of. Additionally, Metzelaars made it clear that Green is a player willing to play hurt and that he expects him to be a formidable weapon for the Pittsburgh offense whenever he’s able to get on the field.
At this point, it really is semantics as to what the real reason for Green needing to start the regular season on the Steelers Reserve/PUP list. If, however, the new tight end is unable to play in the Week 7 game against the Patriots, more questions regarding possible headaches being the real reason why he remained sidelined will certainly come back to the forefront.
