The Pittsburgh Steelers walked away from their preseason opener with a sloppy 20-12 loss to the Houston Texans. But if there’s a silver lining, the team appears to have avoided any serious injuries in its exhibition debut. Recapping the post-game injury report, Mike Tomlin only mentioned one player by name.
“Bumps and bruises associated with play,” Tomlin said to reporters via the team’s YouTube channel. “We’re still assessing some of that. Keeanu Benton got poked in the eye and wasn’t able to return. We’ll have more information about him and maybe some of the others next time we come together.”
Benton got poked in the eye after making a stop in the first half and came off the field to be attended to by trainers. It stunted an otherwise good start to 2024. Before exiting, Benton defeated blocks in the run and pass game even if he only finished the game with one tackle.
While Benton did not return, it’s possible he was ruled out knowing he wouldn’t have gone back into the game given that it is the preseason. Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Brian Batko, Benton wore “protective eyewear” after the game. But Cam Heyward joked about the injury, indicating it isn’t serious.
Per The Trib’s Chris Adamski, Benton declared himself “ok” post-game.
NT Montravius Adams took advantage of extra reps and had a solid game, finishing with a sack and pass deflection.
Tomlin did not mention the other bumps and bruises and there weren’t any obvious or known injuries announced by the team in-game. The Steelers will hit the Latrobe practice field on Sunday for their next training camp practice. We’ll offer an update on Benton and the overall health of the team in our daily diary. First round OT Troy Fautanu suffered a knee injury, though Tomlin didn’t comment on its severity.
Players who did not play tonight due to injury include OLB Alex Highsmith (groin) and NT Breiden Fehoko (left arm/shoulder). The Steelers play their next preseason game on Aug. 17 against the Buffalo Bills.
