On Tuesday it was reported that Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Kameron Kelly was getting work with the first-team defense at free safety during the afternoon’s OTA practice and I speculated in that post that was likely the result of starting safety Sean Davis missing time due to some sort of injury. As it turns out, Davis is indeed missing practice time due to an injury and it thankfully doesn’t sound like it’s a serious one.
According to a Wednesday report by Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Davis, who is now in the final year of his rookie contract, has been sidelined throughout this year’s OTA practices because of an undisclosed injury. The former second-round draft pick out of Maryland did reportedly say that his injury is minor in nature and made it sound like he’ll be able to practice some at some point in the next several weeks
“For sure, I will definitely be on the grass before minicamp,” Davis said, per Adamski’s report.
Davis missing time this year during OTAs shouldn’t be overly concerning, however, and especially with him not having to switch positions this offseason like he’s had to do in previous offseasons. If he’s able to get on the field for the Steelers mandatory minincamp in June, all should be good.
Davis has pretty much been a picture of health since entering the NFL. In fact, he’s only missed one game to date inn his first three seasons with the Steelers and that occurrence happened late last season as he missed the team’s Week 17 finale against the Cincinnati Bengals with a quadriceps injury. Davis played through an ankle injury early during the 2017 regular season and after ending that week listed as questionable on the Steelers injury report.
Earlier this week, Davis was tabbed the Steelers key homegrown player for the 2019 season by NFL.com. Last season, Davis logged a team-high 979 defensive snaps on his way to registering 79 total tackles, one interception and 7 total passes defensed. It was Davis’ first full season at free safety after having to play strong safety and nickel cornerback in his first two seasons in the NFL.
The Steelers Wednesday OTA practice was their fifth of 2019 and that means there’s now five more remaining. However, one of those sessions will likely be used as a team-building session at either the local Dave & Busters or a bowling alley as that’s been the itinerary for Steelers for quite a while now.
