It might not seem like much, but Cory Trice Jr. completing yesterday’s practice was a milestone of sorts. He tore his ACL as a rookie in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first padded practice, nearly one year ago today. He isn’t playing as much as he would like right now, but now he has a full-pads practice behind him.
If anything, that serves as a psychological boost as the Steelers slow-play his full return from last year’s knee injury. A 2023 seventh-round pick, Cory Trice Jr. had major injury red flags, but the Steelers took a chance on him. He flashed his potential throughout the offseason program right up until going down in the first practice in pads.
After observing that he was seeing limited reps so far, Trice acknowledged yesterday that the Steelers are taking his recovery slow. We weren’t even sure if he would avoid the Physically Unable to Perform List, but he has been full go. The only thing he needs to do now is to have the team start increasing his workload.
Trice has a lot of fans as a talented underdog trying to overcome his past injuries. Being a big cornerback with physicality doesn’t hurt his popularity, either, but he is still working his way in. Even once he sees more practice snaps, it’s not at all clear he is on a fast track toward playing.
The Steelers have Joey Porter Jr. and Donte Jackson as starting cornerbacks, with Minkah Fitzpatrick and DeShon Elliott at safety. While they are still auditioning slot defenders, they have Beanie Bishop Jr. and Grayland Arnold contending there. Even in terms of a depth outside cornerback, Trice is fighting with Darius Rush and Anthony Averett.
But as he told reporters yesterday, he knows that the best ability he can show is availability. Trice might not enjoy spending so many snaps on the sideline watching, but he knows he is out there now. He knows that he can finally start to push forward and truly get a start on his NFL career.
That’s why Cory Trice Jr. making it through a padded practice was something of a milestone. There are plenty more to come, particularly going through his first preseason game, but that’s one thing he has now done that he could not finish a year ago.
And there is no such thing as too much depth at cornerback. As long as Trice shows something when he does participate, there should be a roster spot available for him. Chances are he will make a quality contributor on special teams as well.
But everything depends upon the state of that knee, and of his health generally. Trice isn’t fated to fall apart on the football field—nor is Payton Wilson or Darnell Washington. Guys like these, however, need to take extra precautions to be proactive about their bodies. I’m sure Trice has learned plenty about that in the past year, but now he wants to learn through playing.
