Editor's Note: Bam Morris doesn't run Blitzburgh anymore. Of course, you can take a man away from his blog, you can't take the blogger out of the man, or something like that. Bam sent in a guest post (which is a weird concept to wrap my brain around still), and here's a rundown on the Steelers' injury situation provided by our late, great blog founder.
Is it me or are the Steelers more injury prone than most teams? It’s been so long since we’ve seen the black and gold take the field and it’s easy to forget about how banged up the team was at the end of last season.
Here are the Steelers who missed at least a full game last season:
-David DeCastro
-Marcus Gilbert
-Troy Polamalu
-Willie Colon
-Ike Taylor
-Ben Roethliserger
-James Harrison
-LaMarr Woodley
-Antonio Brown
-Heath Miller
That list could basically double as a list of the team’s best players. Since it has been so long since we examined the walking wounded, here’s a player by player update on the Steelers current injury situation:
Ben Roethlisberger
Roethlisberger seems to always have something hurting. Fortunately his latest knee surgery on June 6, 2013 was successful and he’s ready to go again. When reporters asked Ben how he was feeling with his latest surgery, Ben said he could go on the field on Sunday if he had to. He since has participated in a few drills and should be ready to go by training camp on July 26.
Sean Spence
Spence has told reporters lately that he fully expects to play this coming season. This is a bit of a surprise as it was debated whether or not Spence would ever be able to play football again. Spence seems to think he will be not only ready to go but sooner than anyone would’ve expected. I’m certainly rooting for him, but the odds are really stacked against him.
Heath Miller
Ok, time for the bad news. As you may remember, Miller needed his ACL and MCL repaired. He has been seen walking around without crutches but he unfortunately gave no hint as to whether he will be back anytime soon. As reporters have nagged at Miller’s state of health, the response he gave was simply that it was too early to tell if he would be back or not. He said the doctors have been pleased with his recovery, but he will making sure he is back to 100% before anything else happens. Miller was running some in OTAs so that’s a positive sign. Let’s just hope his recovery isn’t rushed and he can come back even better than before.
Recovery for these guys is all possible as Pittsburgh has one of the best medical staffs in the league, top of the line recovery and rehab facilities with special equipment like their therapy swimming pools and other goodies from UPMC.
Injuries can cripple a team so quickly and getting everybody healthy is the first step on improving from last seasons .500 record. The Steelers got a bit younger this offseason, but they are still projected to have the 9th oldest starting 22 in the league and injuries will continue to be a major factor for the foreseeable future.
