Though his summer was limited by a knee injury, rookie OT Troy Fautanu doesn’t plan to let it disrupt his fall. Suffering an MCL sprain in his Pittsburgh Steelers’ debut last week, Fautanu told reporters Tuesday he plans to play on Sept. 8, the team’s regular season opener against the Atlanta Falcons.
Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo, Fautanu said he’s following team trainer’s advice to be 100 percent for Week One.
Fautanu suffered the injury sometime during the first half of the Houston Texans game, though he played through the injury and didn’t reveal it to the team until half time when he asked for a knee brace. It was only then that the Steelers shut him down for the day and the remainder of the preseason.
While Fautanu took his lumps against Houston top-flight pass rusher Danielle Hunter, he had a solid training camp and reporting indicates the Steelers still plan to start him against the Falcons. Assuming so, he’ll step back into his right tackle spot, seeing first-team reps before getting hurt. That will slide Broderick Jones over to the left side to compete with Dan Moore Jr. While Jones’ resume as a first round pick would suggest he’ll get the nod, he’s struggled through an elbow injury and Moore has easily out-performed him through the first two preseason contests.
Should Fautanu start, he’ll be greeted by one of the NFL’s better pass rushers in Matthew Judon, traded over from the New England Patriots to the Falcons earlier this month. A contract dispute was the reason for being shipped out of New England but he won’t receive an immediate extension with Atlanta, giving him plenty to prove to cash in during the offseason.
Pittsburgh could wind up starting two rookies on their offensive line in Fautanu and Zach Frazier, the latter poised to take over the center job after Nate Herbig was placed on IR Tuesday, officially ending his season. On paper, that doesn’t inspire confidence but the Steelers have spoken highly of Fautanu and Frazier, Arthur Smith admiring the preparation of the latter.
