Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt suffered a left bicep injury during the team’s regular season opener against the Cleveland Browns and after the initial news concerning the rest of his 2017 season looked bleak, it was later determined that he’ll be able to resume playing sooner rather than later.
On Tuesday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed the good news regarding Tuitt’s bicep injury and even went as far as to say that he might just play in the team’s Week 2 game against the Minnesota Vikings. Tuesday evening, Tuitt was a guest on ESPN 970 Radio and he talked about how and when he suffered his bicep injury against the Browns.
“It was definitely the second play,” Tuitt explained. “The second play when I had avoided the tight end, I guess I had did something then to myself as I was going up to make the tackle on [Isaiah] Crowell.
Tuitt then went into more detail about how the injury happened and what transpired after that.
“It was just when I was reaching out, my arm just kind of went numb from just flicking it out a little bit, so I just got out [of the game] and they were just being precautious with me and just making sure nothing else unless they were able to see in the MRI,” Tuitt explained. “So, since we got the MRI, we saw that everything was pretty good and we’re just going to strengthen it, get it back on, and then once I’m able to feel comfortable with that, we’ll be able to rock and roll.”
Tuit was later told during his interview that Tomlin didn’t rule out the possibility of him playing Sunday against the Vikings earlier in the day and was then asked if he thinks that’s possible.
“We’re just going to see throughout the week,” Tuitt said. “How much of that strength I get back in my arm right away. If I get enough strength back to be able to push and at the end of the day be comfortable to defend myself on the field, I’ll be ready to get out there and put my pads back on and try to get a win with the team. But if not, I’ll definitely be out there to be able to be the biggest supporter and the biggest cheerleader for the team and support all the players.”
Tuitt, who just signed a five-year contract extension on Saturday, admitted that he was a bit in shock initially that he had potentially suffered a serious injury just one day after signing his new deal.
“It was absolutely shocking,” he said. “You work so hard. I did a really good job this offseason in focusing on my body, paying attention to things you’re supposed to do, getting core strength, everything that I was willing to buy into the season to have a successful season. So, sometimes adversity hits you. But what’s a great story without a little adversity in it? To be able to bounce back from this, and keep doing what we was continuing to do and push forward for a seventh Super Bowl for this organization and my first one for me.”
The Steelers first injury report of Week 2 will be released on Wednesday at the conclusion of practice and it will be interesting to see if Tuitt practices even on a limited basis. He probably won’t and quite honestly, I will be surprised if he ultimately winds up playing Sunday against the Vikings as that would give him some extra time to heal his bicep and get his strength back.
In the meantime, Tuitt said Tuesday night that he’s not even wearing a sling on his injured arm and that hes feeling much better more than 48 hours since he suffered his injury.
“I’m able to keep full functions, move it around, keeping my arms down, doing the same things,” Tuitt said. “I’m just not doing an abundant amount of work on it. Just kind of keeping it rested. So at the end of the day, just trying to make sure it’s good.”
