Bit of house-keeping here on this Friday morning. Offseason surgeries are pretty common place in the NFL. We already know Ramon Foster had his thumb repaired and Tyler Matakevich underwent a procedure on his injured left shoulder earlier in the week. Add Xavier Grimble to the list.
Posting to his Instagram story earlier Friday morning, Grimble revealed he had surgery on his left hand. He posted these photos today.
I’m not aware of Grimble showing up on the injury report due to a hand/finger injury but if he didn’t miss practice because of it, the team wouldn’t have to list him. Three hours after these were posted, a very groggy Grimble also announced the surgery had been a “success.” He’ll be good to go for training camp and probably spring ball, too.
Bouncing between the backup and #3 tight end, depending on the health of Vance McDonald, Grimble had slight regression from 2016, catching only five passes, though found the end zone on one of those.
He signed a one-year deal earlier in the week and will be the favorite to be the #3 tight end heading into camp, assuming McDonald is retained. It’s likely he’ll have some better competition this year as opposed to last, however.
With this injury, McDonald’s string of them, and whatever Jesse James toughed out, the Steelers’ tight end room ended up more like a MASH unit. But that’s life of playing the position in Pittsburgh. Few ask their tight ends to be as hard-nosed and physical as the Steelers.
h/t @the_mundz
