When Mike Tomlin recapped the injuries that occurred during Friday night’s preseason opener, he left RT Troy Fautanu off the initial report. It wasn’t until after his press conference that Tomlin notified the media of a knee injury. We now know that they weren’t aware of the injury because Fautanu played through it and didn’t let on to the coaches that he was hurt until the rookie asked for a knee brace.
“I didn’t even realize [Troy Fautanu] had an injury because he kept playing and he just asked for a knee brace,” Smith said in a clip posted by Yardbarker’s Aaron Becker on X. “Thankfully he’ll be alright, but [it] shows who he really is when you get into those moments.”
That kind of toughness goes a long way, even if a little reckless in the preseason. Fautanu is in the middle of a competition to be a Week 1 starter. When the Steelers made him their first-round pick, it was expected that he would push for that job right away. Perhaps that had some influence in his decision to play through the pain.
The injury ended up being a mild MCL sprain, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Tomlin told the media on Sunday that Fautanu is out this week, but they are optimistic for a quick return. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac reported he will be out for two weeks. That puts the rest of the preseason in jeopardy for Fautanu.
I speculated that this could seal the deal for the tackle configuration to open the season with Dan Moore Jr. on the left and Broderick Jones on the right. But Dulac reported earlier today that the Steelers are planning to start Fautanu as their Week 1 right tackle after watching him progress throughout camp.
Assuming the report is true, that says a lot about what they think of Fautanu. He showed them enough over the first 13 practices to warrant that kind of trust from the coaching staff.
He played 25 snaps against the Houston Texans on Friday. He allowed one sack and two total pressures, but he did show the ability to move in space and create push off the line of scrimmage in the run game. His first preseason game wasn’t without flaws, but how much of that potentially had to do with his injury now that we know he was playing hurt?
