The Pittsburgh Steelers have placed rookie OT Troy Fautanu on injured reserve, the team announced Saturday afternoon. He will miss at least the next four games due to a knee injury suffered during Friday’s practice.
Pittsburgh didn’t immediately announce his replacement on the 53-man roster. They elevated OL John Leglue and CB James Pierre ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The nature of Fautanu’s injury isn’t known but it’s obviously a poor sign. His prognosis was bleaker throughout Saturday when ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted he would be “out indefinitely” while the PPG’s Gerry Dulac indicated Fautanu was receiving several independent medical evaluations of his knee.
It’s the second knee injury Fautanu’s suffered over the last six weeks. He sprained the MCL in his left knee in the team’s preseason opener against the Houston Texans, sitting out the next two games. It’s not known if this injury is the same knee.
Under the NFL’s injured reserve rules, Fautanu doesn’t have to be declared as “designated to return.” Meaning, the team will maintain the option to bring him back later in the season. Teams can bring back up to eight players from injured reserve during the regular season. But it remains to be seen if Fautanu is a candidate or if he’ll remain on injured reserve for the rest of his rookie season.
Broderick Jones will start in his place. Jones got the nod in Week 1 but was replaced in the starting lineup by Fautanu in Week 2. Pittsburgh planned to rotate both players but Jones was benched during his first series after committing three penalties.
The team’s first round pick in 2024, Pittsburgh was exceedingly high on Fautanu, starting him early into his career despite the summer setback. Now, he’s facing what appears to be a much larger obstacle to begin his NFL tenure. There were pre-draft rumblings of Fautanu dealing with knee injuries early in his college career. He’s now had two to begin his time with Pittsburgh.
The Steelers have suffered a long list of offensive line injuries already, losing C Nate Herbig for the season to a torn rotator cuff while OG Isaac Seumalo will miss his third game due to a pec injury.
