When the Pittsburgh Steelers play their preseason finale Thursday night against the Carolina Panthers several of their starters will sit the contest out. One of those expected to sit out Thursday night is safety Sean Davis, who suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter of the team’s Sunday night preseason game against the Tennessee Titans. After Tuesday’s practice, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was asked if he has more clarity yet on Davis’ ankle injury and he only gave a three-word reply.
“I do not,” Tomlin said.
While Davis reportedly said after the Sunday night game that he’d ultimately be ready to play in the team’s regular season opener against the New England Patriots, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Tuesday afternoon that the safety said he was headed to see the doctor at the conclusion of practice.
For now, we’ll have to wait and see if either Davis or Tomlin provide more updates. If they don’t, we might have to wait until the Steelers release their first official injury report of 2019 at the conclusion of the team’s practice a week from tomorrow.
For whatever it’s worth, our very own Dr. Melanie Friedlander reviewed the replay of Davis’ ankle injury late Sunday night and you can see her initial diagnose in the tweet response below.
Should Davis ultimately not be able to play in the opener against the Patriot then we could see backup Kameron Kelly get the start at free safety. Kelly has worked a lot at that position this summer when Davis missed practice time with other injuries.
As for other Steelers players currently dealing with injuries, it sounds like wide receiver Diontae Johnson and running back Benny Snell Jr. will both play Thursday night after sitting out the last preseason game with minor injuries. It’s unknown if outside linebacker Anthony Chickillo or tight end Christian Scotland-Williamson will be able to play Thursday night. Both sat out the team’s last preseason game due to injuries along with outside linebacker Olasunkanmi Adeniyi, who has missed the last two preseason games after having meniscus surgery.
Another player who sat out the team’s last preseason game with an injury cornerback Brian Allen, was waived injured on Tuesday. He is expected to revert to the Steelers Reserve/Injured list on Wednesday after clearing waivers.
