When the Pittsburgh Steelers took to the field for their first padded practice of the 2023 edition of training camp, then-rookie CB Cory Trice Jr. injured his knee, thereby robbing him of his entire rookie season.
Fast-forward to Tuesday, when the Steelers strapped on the pads for the first padded practice of 2024, and Trice was back on the field at Saint Vincent College. Just like the Steelers have been with QB Russell Wilson’s calf strain, the team has eased Trice back into practice. Have they been too cautious with him? Steeler Depot’s Matthew Marczi asked that question on Monday, but Trice gave a glimpse into his mindset on Tuesday.
“We just taking things slow and just continue to build,” Trice said after practice per video from the SteelersLive X account. “We move forward. No step backward… We taking things slow right now, just not really trying to rush anything. ‘Cause you know, I can’t break any records right now. I gotta get to preseason.”
Both the NFL season and the offseason are marathons, not sprints. So it only makes sense to take things slowly to get Cory Trice Jr. back fully. The Steelers don’t need to rush Trice back. They added multiple corners this offseason in Donte Jackson and Anthony Averett. They have players who can contribute while Trice recovers.
Yet it would still benefit everyone for Trice to be healthy and compete for the top depth spot at minimum. He had a good spring in 2023 before suffering the injury, so there is hope that he will be a productive member of the secondary.
Trice also rehabbed from an ACL injury previously, and he feels like that gives him a leg up in this recovery process. He knows how to come back from a knee injury like he sustained at Purdue. He’s good with approaching his recovery slowly and steadily.
If Cory Trice Jr. recovers fully as it appears he has, he could certainly help improve a position that was viewed as a weak spot at the start of the offseason.
