Steelers Now
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin revealed on Tuesday that wide receiver Calvin Austin III will play against the New York Jets in the season opener on Sunday. Austin missed most of training camp and all three of the preseason games due to a abdominal muscle injury.
“Whenever Coach T pulls his trigger and talks to (head athletic trainer) Gabe [Amponsah] and everybody. I’ll be back out there,” Austin said on Aug. 18 in regard to when he’ll be a full participant.
The Memphis native felt like he was on track to get back on the field.
“I’m right on point. I feel like I’m right on the correct timeline of things,” he said.
“Whatever the medical staff and Coach T say, I’m going to follow that.”
Austin was the team’s third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. He missed his entire rookie season with injury, but has come on strong recently. After catching 17 passes for 180 yards in 2023, Austin broke out for 36 catches, 548 yards and four touchdowns last season.
This year, Austin is expected to be the team’s No. 2 wide receiver, behind DK Metcalf, a role that could see another increase in targets for the speedy receiver.
Tomlin said he is ‘extremely confident’ in Austin’s abilities as the team’s No. 2 WR.
“I’m extremely confident in him, but I’m also equally confident in Roman Wilson, Jonnu [Smith] and Pat [Freiermuth]. There’s a lot of speculations and narratives about the quote-unquote No. 2. And I just think in today’s game, it comes at you in a lot of ways.”
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Get Back Blazing-Fast WR for Jets Game
