The Pittsburgh Steelers could take the field against the Atlanta Falcons without two of their top three drafted rookies. After first round pick OT Troy Fautanu suffered a sprained MCL in the preseason opener and third round WR Roman Wilson has been rehabbing from an ankle injury since the first padded practice, insider Ray Fittipaldo believes both will be in street clothes come Sept. 8.
Appearing on 93.7 The Fan Thursday, Fittipaldo thinks both rookies will be inactive for the regular season opener.
“I’m gonna say he’ll be inactive at this point,” he told The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi. “I still wanna wait to see what happens on Monday. If he’s a full participant on Monday and they are hell bent on getting him into the lineup because they feel he’s that good, then yeah, it’s a possibility. But I don’t think it’s a great possibility right now.”
Pittsburgh’s had more tackle injuries this year than at any point of the last two years. Jones injured his arm in training camp, wearing a brace for most of the summer and telling reporters there are “multiple” ailments he’s battling through. Fautanu went down next, hurt in the first half of his first NFL game, while backup Dylan Cook will miss at least the first four weeks with a foot injury.
While Fautanu is progressing and poised to practice Monday, he may have missed too much time to get the Week 1 nod. He missed the final few training camp practices and most of the preseason. With a regular season opener on the road against an Atlanta Falcons defense that’s added multi-time Pro Bowler Matthew Judon, the Steelers may lean on experience with Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle and Broderick Jones at right tackle. Jones already told reporters he’s acting as if he’ll be the Week 1 starting right tackle.
If so, the question becomes when and how Fautanu works his way into the starting lineup. Unless someone gets hurt or Moore or Jones have a string of terrible performances, Fautanu could struggle to see consistent playing time. Pittsburgh may use him as a sixth offensive lineman in short-yardage situations, but the Steelers haven’t made many o-line changes for on-field play.
Fittipaldo gave the same answer about Wilson but offered more confidence.
“I’m almost 100 percent he will be inactive for the first game. Just doing some light stuff here this week in practice. We’ll see what he does next week, but it would be a pretty big upset to see him out there in the opener.”
Wilson missed almost all of training camp and the entire preseason with an ankle injury. Despite focusing on mental reps, he’s even further behind than Fautanu. Fortunately, he avoided injured reserve, a sign he should be healthy within four games. But being healthy and being active are two different things, and Wilson will spend the start of the season making up for lost time. Until then, Calvin Austin III and Scotty Miller will receive opportunities to make plays.
