There’s nothing like getting some instant information to follow up a report. That is exactly what happened this afternoon as Roman Wilson confirmed to the media that he will not be playing in Saturday’s preseason finale when the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Detroit Lions, per Ray Fittipaldo on X. This came on the heels of Fittipaldo reporting via 93.7 The Fan that Wilson’s continued absence at practice is not a good sign for him to open the season on the active roster. He even suggested a trip to injured reserve seems possible.
Wilson suffered an ankle injury on the first day of padded practice on July 30 when he got tackled on a jet sweep. He was carted off at practice and reportedly in considerable pain. Fortunately he avoided a major injury that could have threatened his rookie season. The injury was labeled week-to-week, and Gerry Dulac even suggested there was a good chance he would participate in the Steelers’ final preseason game.
It has been a little over three weeks since the injury occurred. While there have been positive signs for Wilson, including shedding the walking boot and walking without a limp at practice, he has yet to return to practice in even a limited capacity.
Prior to his injury, Wilson was coming along nicely at training camp. He caught all seven of his targets for 97 yards and a touchdown and really started emerging over the last practice or two before the injury.
So will Wilson start the season on IR? He didn’t give much information either way, but it sure seems like he is on track to return for the first or second week of the regular season.
“I ain’t giving all those secrets,” Wilson told the media today in a clip posted by Mark Kaboly on X. “It’s good so far. I’ll be back soon. It feels good. Pretty confident with it, so it’ll be good.”
Even if he is good to go for Week 1, it seems unlikely that he will have a large role in the offense right away. He worked with Russell Wilson extensively at OTAs and mandatory minicamp in the spring, but by the time Russell Wilson returned to training camp, Roman Wilson was already out injured.
“Yeah, it does suck not being able to play in preseason. That was something I was looking forward to,” Wilson said. “But being able to play as soon as I can, that’s a blessing for me. It could have been worse. I could be sitting out for a longer time, so it’s good.”
With the state of the wide receiver room, I would be surprised if the Steelers went the route of placing Wilson on IR to start the season. That would guarantee he is sitting out for four games, and then he would have even more of a moving train to hop back onto. Even if he needs to miss Week 1, it seems like he is much closer than the nearly seven weeks it would be from now until the Dallas Cowboys game on Oct. 6.
We will know the plan either way next Tuesday when the roster is trimmed from 90 to 53. It would be at that time that the Steelers would place Wilson on IR designated to return.
