After reporting Saturday that Pittsburgh Steelers center/guard Nate Herbig suffered a “significant” shoulder injury, the PPG’s Gerry Dulac indicates Herbig’s injury is so severe that he could miss the entire 2024 season. Per Dulac, Herbig has a torn rotator cuff.
Herbig suffered the injury towards the end of the final training camp practice this past Wednesday during a positional group blocking drill. After being examined by trainers for several minutes, looking at his left arm and shoulder, Herbig walked off the field, up the stairs, and into the team facility.
After initially calling it a “training camp injury” Thursday, Mike Tomlin hinted the injury was more serious following Saturday’s preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills. Tomlin indicated Nate Herbig was receiving a second opinion from doctors.
“Nate’s got an injury that’s being continually evaluated,” he said via the team’s YouTube channel. “I think he’s getting a second opinion. I wanna wait to that. I’ll give you guys some information probably the next time we come together.”
Tomlin is slated to next speak to reporters after Tuesday’s practice. He’ll hold his weekly press conference on Thursday.
Herbig appears to be an obvious candidate for injured reserve. Under new rules, Herbig doesn’t need to be placed on the initial 53 man roster in order to be designated to return later in the season. The Steelers just have to wait until cutdown day, Aug. 27, to transfer him to IR in order for him to be eligible to return. However, even a return late this season seems questionable, per Dulac’s reporting.
With Nate Herbig injured, Zach Frazier served as the team’s starting center yesterday and is poised to hold onto the that role throughout the regular season. The new backup center is unclear, ranging from internal options like Spencer Anderson to an external add on the waiver wire or free agent pool after cutdowns. We outlined a list of internal and external center candidates earlier today.
Herbig will be a free agent after the season with a questionable Steelers’ future. Signed ahead of the 2023 season, he appeared in all 17 games last season, starting two, and playing 156 offensive snaps. He had a solid training camp and ran as the first-team center prior to getting injured.
In addition to Herbig, rookie OT Troy Fautanu is recovering from an MCL sprain suffered in the preseason opener. OT Broderick Jones has played in both exhibition games but battled an elbow injury through camp, playing poorly and giving up two sacks in Saturday’s loss.
