The Pittsburgh Steelers placed rookie WR Roman Wilson on IR just before their final game before the bye week. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter Ray Fittipaldo wonders if that was the last time we will see him this year. They have gotten by without him basically this whole time, after all, even if there are nine games left.
Fittipaldo fielded a question about whether the bye week would be a good time for Roman Wilson to get up to speed and start contributing to the Steelers. Unfortunately for the reader, he seemingly missed the Steelers putting him on IR. He is not eligible to resume practicing for another three games, though he can do everything else during that time.
“I have a feeling we won’t be seeing Roman Wilson the rest of the season”, Fittipaldo wrote in his Steelers chat. “He has to miss at least three more weeks. Unless there is an injury and they need a body I don’t see him returning to the 53-man roster”.
A third-round pick out of Michigan, Roman Wilson was the Steelers’ “big” move at wide receiver following significant room turnover. They traded Diontae Johnson, released Allen Robinson II, and let Miles Boykin go. All that remain are George Pickens and Calvin Austin III, their top two receivers this year.
The Steelers are starting to see more production from Van Jefferson since Russell Wilson cracked the lineup. No doubt they hoped, however, that they could get contributions from Roman Wilson down the stretch.
A week after making his NFL debut in Week 8, however, Wilson injured his hamstring. They placed him on IR just before their Week 8 game, thus starting his clock. The Steelers can designate him for return after their Week 12 game, if they so choose.
Or they can leave him on IR for the rest of the season, which is a legitimate consideration. For one thing, the Steelers have several players on IR other than Wilson that they want back. Montravius Adams, Tyler Matakevich, Dylan Cook, Cory Trice Jr., Ben Skowronek, and Logan Lee are the realistic candidates. They already designated Cook and Matakevich, and Jeremiah Moon is already back from IR.
But the bottom line is the Steelers have played nearly the entire season without Roman Wilson. He played five snaps in one game, which consisted of him running one route, drawing no targets. He missed such a huge chunk of the developmental portion of the season that they simply didn’t feel he was ready. And now he continues to miss more crucial time, this time to a separate injury of undetermined length.
