Pro Football Rumors
The knee injury Derrick Harmon sustained Thursday night will force him to miss regular-season time. The Steelers’ first-round pick suffered an MCL sprain, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports.
This injury can produce varying timetables, but Rapoport notes the expectation is the Steelers rookie misses around a month. That would make him a candidate for one of Pittsburgh’s two IR-return spots next week; such a move would mandate a four-game absence from the No. 21 overall pick.
Mike Tomlin said last night (via Bleacher Report’s James Palmer) Harmon suffered a “knee sprain of some description,” foreshadowing this diagnosis. This certainly could have been worse for the Steelers, as Harmon was carted off the field during the team’s preseason finale. But the Steelers will not have the Oregon product in Week 1 and most likely for longer than that.
If the Steelers stash Harmon on IR, they would save a roster spot next week. Harmon would need to miss four games, and he would immediately count against Pittsburgh’s eight regular-season injury activations if he hits IR by Tuesday’s cutdown deadline. The Steelers could also go week to week here, in the event Harmon is ready to return before Week 5, but that would mean carrying an injured player for multiple weeks to open the season.
It would, however, make sense for the Steelers to proceed with a Harmon IR placement Tuesday since he will be healthy enough to play early in the season. The team would understandably want to make sure the interior D-lineman is healthy before debuting, and this would add a healthy player in his place during that recovery.
This offseason brought more Cameron Heyward contract drama, as the likely Hall of Fame-bound defensive tackle pushed for a raise via a short-lived hold-in. Heyward returned to practice ahead of Pittsburgh’s preseason game. No Harmon early would mean the Steelers will be forced to count on Heyward once again. Harmon is in place as a Heyward heir apparent of sorts, but this season will feature the two lining up together on Pittsburgh’s D-line. The team will need to wait a bit for that happens.
