PITTSBURGH — The Steelers positioned beginning proper sort out Troy Fautanu on injured reserve Saturday after he damage his knee in observe yesterday.
The 2024 first-round decide was slated to make his second profession begin in opposition to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, however fellow sort out Broderick Jones stated Fautanu had “slightly tweak” in Friday’s observe and can be getting an MRI to guage the severity of the damage.
“We actually do not know what his standing goes to be,” Jones stated of Fautanu. “I crammed in for him after which simply going to roll from there after he will get his MRI and stuff, and we’ll simply determine what is going on on from there.”
The IR transfer means Fautanu will miss a minimum of 4 video games.
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With Fautanu sidelined, Jones, whom the Steelers traded as much as draft No. 14 in 2023, will get a possibility to begin and rebound from a disappointing efficiency off the bench in opposition to the Denver Broncos.
“It is nothing new,” Jones stated of stepping in. “It ain’t nothing mystical, so I simply bought to get out of there and do it each time my title’s referred to as.”
Fautanu supplanted Jones because the starter in opposition to Denver, however coach Mike Tomlin stated he had deliberate to rotate tackles till a slew of penalties by Jones despatched him to the bench for the remainder of the sport.
“I had intentions of using each guys,” Tomlin stated Tuesday. “I acknowledged that Troy was wholesome. I acknowledged that Troy was succesful. That is why we began him, however I rolled him as a result of I had considerations about his degree of conditioning. He is a younger man. He is new to me. He is new to the NFL. I did not understand how fatigue would have an effect on his play by way of element, and so he tried to thrust back a few of that. And so I had each intention to utilizing Broderick, however when Broderick began getting extremely penalized in play, I backed off of it and I held my breath and I performed Troy.”
Fautanu’s damage is the third vital one on the offensive line. Middle Nate Herbig is out for the 12 months with a rotator cuff tear, whereas veteran guard Isaac Seumalo missed the primary two weeks after injuring his pectoral in observe. He’s additionally out for Sunday’s recreation in opposition to the Chargers.
Fautanu initially suffered an MCL sprain within the first half of the Steelers’ opening preseason recreation in August, sidelining him for the rest of the preseason. Nonetheless, Tomlin was complimentary of the work he noticed from the twentieth total decide, citing it as he defined why Fautanu was prepared to begin previous to Friday’s damage.
“Troy had been lighting it up,” Tomlin stated Tuesday. “I do not discuss lots in the course of the preseason, significantly about rookies as a result of it does not assist me and it does not assist them, however primarily based on my actions by way of placing him within the lineup, I am certain you could have an understanding of what I used to be in workforce improvement.”
