On the first day of padded practice during training camp, third-round rookie WR Roman Wilson suffered an ankle injury that held him out of the rest of camp and the preseason. He didn’t start practicing in a limited capacity until last week, but he never progressed to a full practice and was ruled out for Week 1 on Friday.
According to Mike Tomlin, Wilson’s return into the fold could be soon.
“Expect an uptick in the participation of guys like Roman Wilson, who’s working his way back to us,” Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly press conference in a video posted on the Steelers’ YouTube page. “[He] was a partial participant at times and so forth. Man, we are excited about getting him in the fold and seeing him maybe take a step.”
Prior to his injury, Wilson was really starting to take off with his targets and production at camp. According to Alex Kozora’s training camp stats, he caught all seven of his targets over the first four practices for 97 yards and a touchdown. He was leading all receivers in yards and receptions and had the third-most targets before his injury.
Obviously that was without the pads on, so Wilson will need to be eased back into practice and worked into the game plan. Other than one half of one practice, he hasn’t experienced NFL full-speed contact yet.
That could take some time, but the lack of production from receivers not named George Pickens was abysmal in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons. Calvin Austin III and Van Jefferson were the only other wide receivers targeted, and they caught a combined two of their four targets for eight yards.
That might crack the door for Wilson to get involved earlier than many thought he would coming back from injury, though I wouldn’t expect it for at least another week or two.
