Update: 4:07 p.m.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Isaac Seumalo is expected to miss 4 weeks with his pectoral injury. There is still a week and a half until the Steelers’ first game, so we will see if he avoids a trip to IR or not. He could conceivably be ready for the Week 4 game against the Indianapolis Colts if this timetable works out. If he is placed on IR, he would need to miss a minimum of four games.
Our original story is below.
It’s still unclear how long Pittsburgh Steelers OG Isaac Seumalo will be out for after reportedly suffering a pectoral injury during practice Wednesday. But he won’t miss the entire 2024 season. Offering an update on Seumalo’s health, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted Wednesday that Seumalo won’t be out for the year.
“We dodged a bullet,” a source told Schefter.
There’s no official timetable on how long Seumalo will miss and it appears he will miss some amount of time with the regular season less than two weeks away. Sharing her thoughts on Twitter earlier, our Dr. Melanie Friedlander said the time missed would depend on the severity of Seumalo’s injury.
Now that the worst-case, season-ending scenario appears off the table, the four-to-six-week span seems to be more likely in play. This could be a similar situation to T.J. Watt at the start of the 2022 season, suffering a torn pec that didn’t rob his entire season but cost the first half of it. Injured in Week 1, Watt returned Week 10 following the Steelers’ Week 9 bye. Seumalo could be on a similar timeline, the Steelers also having a Week 9 bye this year. And because of the position he plays, guard versus outside linebacker, Seumalo may not need quite the range of motion that Watt did, who also underwent minor knee surgery during that time.
While it’s just speculation, perhaps Seumalo could return by Week 6 or 7, games against the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets, respectively.
Pittsburgh was more protective of Seumalo in training camp than it was with any otherwise healthy player this summer. He received five off days across the team’s 16 camp practices and half days during some others. He also didn’t play in the preseason opener and was the first lineman out of both the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions games.
Pittsburgh knows how critical Seumalo is to its success, relying on an improved offensive line to jump-start the offense, and now may have to spend a chunk of the season without him. The good news is Seumalo seems poised to return at some point this year. Until then, Spencer Anderson or rookie Mason McCormick will get the nod at left guard. Seumalo’s injury could still require an injured reserve stint, freeing up a spot on the roster.
