The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line could feel healthy and complete by next weekend. OG Isaac Seumalo avoided a season-ending injury in the preseason but is poised to miss his third-straight game to start the season. One beat writer doesn’t think it’ll become four. Appearing on 93.7 The Fan Thursday evening, the PPG’s Ray Fittipaldo said he believes Seumalo will be back for the Steelers’ Week 4 game against the Indianapolis Colts.
“He’s not gonna play this week,” Fittipaldo told The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller. “But I just go back to them not putting him on IR to start the season. They kind of knew it was gonna be a two- or three-week injury. It turned out to be a three-week injury, so I would expect to see him out there next week against the Colts.”
Seumalo injured his pectoral on Aug. 28 during practice. Initially feared to be season-ending, tests determined it was a strain instead of a tear, a best-case scenario and giving him a chance to return within a month. As Fittipaldo notes, the team opted against placing Seumalo on injured reserve, a move that would’ve cost him the first four games of 2024. That indicated the team was hopeful he’d be back before then though those are always projections and not guarantees of when a player will return.
Replacing him has been second-year Spencer Anderson, earning the first starts of his young career. Anderson’s play has been inoffensive but average at best, not getting a big push in the run game and struggling in pass protection. The team could’ve turned to promising rookie Mason McCormick but pivoted to Anderson, who has more experience and received the bulk of training camp reps when Isaac Seumalo received rest days.
Since the injury, Seumalo has yet to practice and will need to get in at least a limited session to show tangible signs of progress. Next Wednesday’s injury report will be key to begin gauging his chances of suiting up against the Colts. If he can, it’ll be a boost to the Steelers’ running game. Couple that with Indianapolis being without top interior d-tackle DeForest Buckner, on injured reserve due to an ankle injury, and the Steelers could have far more success than last year’s disappointing trip to Indy.
