Pittsburgh Steelers WR Roman Wilson suffered an ankle injury in practice yesterday, which head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed to be an ankle sprain when meeting with reporters today.
“It’s just an ankle sprain. I’m sure I’m gonna get it after practice, but I hadn’t had a chance to meet with the docs yet,” Tomlin said after practice via Steelers.com.
NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport said that Wilson will miss “several weeks with the injury.”
“He went down yesterday in apparent ankle pain, ended up with a sprained ankle. Had a bunch of tests, I would expect him to miss probably several weeks,” Rapoport said on Inside Training Camp Live today.
Rapoport added that the Steelers “really like” Wilson and won’t rush him back, believing that the team will wait until ahead of Week 1 to get him back on the practice field.
“This is someone that they really like, has had a really good camp so far, so I would expect the Steelers to really take their time with Roman Wilson. The season’s about five weeks away, we’ll see how much time he gets in practice or in preseason games,” Rapoport said. “The start of the season is really the target, and from my understanding, he’s looking pretty good to be ready there. But I don’t expect to see Roman Wilson a ton in practice until we get to that point.”
Given Pittsburgh’s wide receiver situation, Wilson had a chance to start Week 1, likely in the slot but his versatility also allows him to move outside. With the injury and lack of practice time though, it may be hard for Wilson to earn a role early in the season. The Steelers are usually cautious with their rookies, and if Wilson really doesn’t play in the preseason or return to practice ahead of Week 1, getting on the field may be difficult.
It makes sense that the Steelers are going to be cautious with Wilson. Ankle injuries can be easy to re-aggravate and there’s no point in rushing him back on the field. At least early in the season, it’ll give the Steelers more of an opportunity to evaluate someone like Calvin Austin III, who could see more slot snaps with Wilson sidelined.
It’s an unfortunate injury for Wilson and the Steelers. As Rapoport said, Wilson had impressed early in camp, and if he continued that upward trajectory, there was a real chance he could make an impact as soon as Week 1. While that possibility isn’t completely out of the question, it’s going to be much more difficult without seeing the practice field and building chemistry with the rest of the offense.
The good news is that the injury isn’t more serious. Ankle injuries can knock guys out for a bit, but Wilson reportedly being on track to be ready for the start of the season is at least a positive development. It means that Wilson can still be ready to make an impact at some point this season, even if it doesn’t happen to be early in the season.
We’ll continue to monitor any developments surrounding Wilson, but it sounds as if his training camp could be over.
