Pittsburgh Steelers rookie WR Roman Wilson is in a boot after suffering an ankle sprain during practice on Tuesday, head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters on Thursday.
“He can be characterized as week-to-week at this juncture. We got him walking around in a boot for precaution,” Tomlin said via Steelers.com.
Wilson got tackled by CB Anthony Averett on a jet sweep during Seven Shots in practice and left on a cart. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport said the Steelers will be cautious in Wilson’s rehab and that it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him out until the week leading up to Week 1, as that’s the target date for his return.
As a rookie, not getting the extra reps in training camp, especially with pads on, is going to hurt Wilson when it comes time to earn a role early in the season. Given Pittsburgh’s wide receiver depth, it still wouldn’t be a surprise though to see Wilson make an impact in his rookie season, even if his early-season role ends up being reduced.
It’s good news for the Steelers and Wilson that he avoided something more major than a sprain, While it will likely sideline him for the rest of camp and the preseason, it doesn’t sound like the injury, barring any setbacks, will bleed into the regular season. To add a body in the receiver room following Wilson’s injury, the team signed WR Tarik Black, but if Wilson is ready to go for Week 1, the Steelers won’t likely need to add an extra body to their receiver room.
It would be ideal if Wilson could get back in time for Pittsburgh’s third preseason game on Aug. 24, so the Steelers can get a look at him against live NFL competition and in pads. But the week-to-week classification could mean anything from two weeks to a month, so that might be a tough target date to get him ready to go, especially if he hasn’t practiced much.
We’ll ultimately see if Wilson can be ready to make an impact in Week 1, but all things considered, it’s fairly good news that he could be ready by then and won’t miss a longer period of time.
