The Pittsburgh Steelers have had injury concerns ever since training camp. All year long, they have had to find ways to fill in these gaping holes that were created from guys dropping like flies. However, with one week left in the regular season, it seems like the Steelers may finally be getting healthy and getting the reinforcements that they desperately need, especially if they manage to make any sort of run in the playoffs.
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Steelers linebackers Cole Holcomb (#55) and Kwon Alexander ($54) celebrate after a big play during a 2023 home game at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA.
The Steelers officially announced that they have three players returning to practice: Cole Holcomb(PUP), Logan Lee(IR), and Roman Wilson(IR).
LB Cole Holcomb, DL Logan Lee and WR Roman Wilson returned to practice but remains on the Reserve/PUP (Holcomb) and Reserve/Injured (Lee and Wilson).https://t.co/OAHT78pDd3
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 31, 2024
The trio of players have played a combined five snaps throughout the 2024 season, with all of them coming from Wilson. Him and Lee are both rookies that are still looking to find their role on this defense, and their injuries in training camp took away any chance of them finding themselves a consistent spot on this team.
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Roman Wilson walks onto the field at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex to participate in rookie minicamp.
Wilson sprained his ankle early on in training camp, and even after he finally returned to practice, he was constantly limited due to him being behind in terms of chemistry with the starters and his knowledge of the playbook. The Steelers finally gave him a helmet in Week 6 to get him started in this offense.
Unfortunately, he got injured again while preparing for Week 7, and he was subsequently placed on IR. There has not been a peep heard from him or his camp since that day, but now, it seems like he will finally get back to practice.
If a player gets placed on IR before roster cutdown day, their season is officially over. The Steelers waited until after that day so they could get Logan Lee back at some point time, and that came to fruition with him being designated to return. For the first time since the roster cutdown, Lee will at least get to practice and learn the ropes of special teams and pass rush through reps.
Lee suffered a calf injury during preseason, and that clearly has been bothering him for a long time. Muscle injuries can be very finicky, so it makes sense why he and the Steelers wanted to be cautious. When he was first placed on IR, there was no timetable on his return. Even leading up to this, there was no hint that he would even return for the 2024 season.
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Steelers' Cole Holcomb suffers a season-ending knee injury during a game against the Tennessee Titans at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, PA during the 2023 season.
Steelers Get Veteran Linebacker Back For The First Time In 2024
While Wilson and Lee were just rookies looking for some game action, Holcomb was a veteran that was still trying to recover from a previous injury. In the middle of the 2023 season, Holcomb took some friendly fire that completely shattered his knee. He ended that season on IR and has not even practiced since that moment.
He started the 2024 season on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list and stayed there throughout the season. After a long calendar year+ of recovery and rehab, he is finally back in football shape and ready to prove that he is still the same linebacker he was before the injury. He has one year left on his contract, so it will be interesting to see how the Steelers work through his cap hit, and if they trust him enough to keep him around or not.
What do you think about all three players coming back to practice from IR/PUP list? Will they be able to play before the Steelers' season officially ends? Let us know in the comments below.
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