During his first Tuesday press conference of the regular season, Mike Tomlin offered an injury preview ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 1 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. Most notably, he offered clarity on starting LG Isaac Seumalo.
“Isaac can be described as out this week,” Tomlin said via the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “But we did get good news regarding his pec injury. We’ll characterize it as week-to-week, and we’ll see where next week leads us. But really optimistic about his return sooner than later. We had a number of guys working in a partial capacity yesterday…Those guys are Roman Wilson and Troy Fautanu. We’re optimistic about both guys. Jaylen Warren can be included in that discussion along with Cory Trice [Jr.].”
Seumalo suffered a pectoral injury during last week’s practice. Initially viewed as a serious and potentially season-ending injury, media reports indicated he would only miss 3-4 weeks. Tomlin’s comments align with those. Tomlin noted Spencer Anderson is next man up to replace Seumalo.
Fautanu suffered a sprained MCL in the first half of his NFL debut, the preseason opener against the Houston Texans. He didn’t play in either of the final two exhibition games but has been working his way back to be cleared medically. However, with so much time missed, there’s no guarantee he’ll start against the Falcons.
Wilson suffered an ankle sprain during the first padded practice in late July and sat out the rest of the summer. While he avoided being placed on IR to begin the year, an encouraging sign, he’s made slower progress than Fautanu and has missed more time.
Trice suffered a groin injury in the preseason finale but appears on track to play against Atlanta. Warren suffered a hamstring injury in the second preseason game versus the Buffalo Bills but has expressed confidence he won’t miss the Falcons contest.
Pittsburgh has two players who will begin the year on IR-designated-to-return. They are OT Dylan Cook (foot) and OLB Jeremiah Moon (unknown). They will miss at least the first four weeks of the season, returning in Week 5 against the Dallas Cowboys at the earliest. ILB Cole Holcomb is on Reserve/PUP due to the severe knee injury he suffered a year ago. He’s also slated to miss at least the first four weeks but will likely be out longer than that.
The Steelers will release their first official injury report tomorrow. Their final report will come out Friday.
