Pittsburgh Steelers WR Roman Wilson suffered an ankle injury after getting tackled on a jet sweep during Seven Shots at training camp today, and after practice, Mike Tomlin confirmed that Wilson got hurt and that the team will have more information. Today was Pittsburgh’s first padded practice.
“It was unfortunate, we had an injury today, man. Roman hurt his ankle on a tackle and so we’ll have more information regarding the length of his status in terms of how long he might be out,” Tomlin said via Steelers.com.
A third-round pick out of Michigan, Wilson has impressed early in camp and is looking to earn a role in Pittsburgh’s thin wide receiver room. Any injury that sidelines him would make that much more of an uphill battle, and it sounds as if we’ll find out more about Wilson’s injury in the coming days.
If Wilson does miss time, that would likely open the door for more opportunities for Calvin Austin III in the slot. It’s the second year in a row that the Steelers have lost someone on the first day the pads came on, as CB Cory Trice Jr. tore his ACL on the first day of pads last season.
Obviously, the hope is that Wilson’s injury isn’t as severe and that he doesn’t miss much time, if any. He was carted off the field, which on the surface isn’t a good sign, but it could just be a precaution and it helped Wilson avoid the long walk off the practice field. Still, it’s worth monitoring given that Wilson didn’t return to the practice field after the fact.
If the injury is serious, it will further weaken Pittsburgh’s wide receiver depth, which already looks a bit shaky on paper. Wilson was competing with the likes of Austin, Van Jefferson, Quez Watkins and Scotty Miller for playing time, and one of those guys will have to step up if Wilson is out longer-term.
We’ll find out more on Wilson in the coming days, but fingers crossed that the injury isn’t serious and that he’ll be able to make a return to practice in the next few days.
