On the last day of public training camp practice at Saint Vincent College, Pittsburgh Steelers RB Jonathan Ward suffered an apparent leg injury of some variety. He left practice on Wednesday to head up to the training room, per Alex Kozora on X.
Ward initially joined the team as a veteran tryout at rookie minicamp. He has been very impressive throughout camp and had a solid preseason opener for the Steelers on Friday against the Houston Texans. He got six carries for 26 yards, including a 20-yard explosive run. He also caught one pass for five yards.
In addition to his role on offense, Ward has been working on various special teams units. He returned one kickoff on Friday for 25 yards. If the Steelers only keep three running backs as they often do, Ward will likely be the odd man out and land on the practice squad. There is an outside chance that the Steelers keep four running backs including Cordarrelle Patterson who is more of a special teamer at this stage of his career. Ward would have the inside track for that fourth spot if so.
This injury obviously puts that at risk if he is unable to continue practicing and certainly if he misses the remaining two preseason games. The Steelers also have La’Mical Perine, Daijun Edwards, and Aaron Shampklin on the roster. Their opportunities would increase if Ward’s injury forces him to miss time.
Jonathan Ward has been one of the darlings of training camp. Over the first 13 practices, Kozora tracked player stats and has Ward with 28 carries for 203 yards, one touchdown, and one fumble. That is by far the highest yards per carry of camp. He has also had six receptions on eight targets for 57 yards and another touchdown.
