It was roughly a year ago that Pittsburgh Steelers WR Calvin Austin III suffered a foot injury that would keep him out of stadiums for the next year. He finally had the opportunity to make his NFL preseason debut on Friday night in a 27-17 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to which he was a significant contributor.
Though he didn’t run with the starters, the second-year wideout got a good amount of playing time later in the game and found success both on the ground and in the air. His first big play was a 17-yard gain on an end-around early in the second quarter that put the offense in field goal range. Then midway through the third, he beat his man deep with QB Mason Rudolph finding him for a walk-in touchdown, his first NFL score.
And he handed the ball off to his dad after his first touchdown, according to Steelers sideline reporter Missi Matthews.
No, it doesn’t count since it’s just the preseason, but he showed the Steelers and their fans what they were hoping for out of him: speed and playmaking ability. After spending his rookie season on the reserve lists due to a foot injury that required surgery, he is looking like someone who could have a significant role in 2023.
And it was a long time coming. Austin was supposed to make his debut 364 days ago on August 13, 2022, only to suffer a foot injury exactly a year ago today in a walkthrough practice on the day before the first preseason game.
That makes last night’s appearance a key milestone in multiple ways, marking his stadium debut just ahead of the anniversary of his injury. While the initial injury was not season-ending in and of itself, he aggravated it in-season when he returned to practice with the hope of being activated.
The result was necessary surgery to repair the damage, finding himself rehabilitating during the offseason instead of training. It took him well into the process before he was able to start getting up to speed. He told reporters even in June that he felt he had extra gears left to unlock.
The thing is, I’m not even sure if he had all of his gears last night, and yet he looked plenty fast when he was out in open space with the ball either in his hands or on its way in his direction. Not every college player’s speed seems to translate evenly to the NFL.
At least last night, it did just fine, but there will be plenty more tests ahead. It was a good first appearance for him, however, after spending a year of focusing on growing his game internally when he could not work on the external as much as he wanted.
