Knee injury may force Pittsburgh Steelers LB James Harrison out of season opener – NFL News
The Pittsburgh Steelers are continuously refusing to give a timeline for return of linebacker James Harrison who may well be out of the regular season opener next month with a knee problem if he requires an arthroscopic surgery to fix it.
James, who is well known and has often landed himself into troubles of fines for his rough challenges to oppositions' quarterbacks, has missed the entire training camp of the team with what his agent Bill Parise calls an irritation in the left knee that
needs to be cleared once and for all.
A report in timesonline.com has cited Bill as saying:
“With the exception of this little knee thing, James is probably healthier now that he’s been in three years. He’s extremely fit. He just has to get this irritation behind his knee cap cleared up. That’s what’s causing the swelling, and (the Steelers) just
want to get rid of that.”
The agent added:
“So we might even look at doing a scope of that to get it cleaned up. We’ll just have to wait see how it plays out.”
Coach Mike Tomlin who has often been asked about the timeline for return of players on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list has refused to speculate comeback of the linebacker.
Mike said the team evaluates the players on the PUP on a weekly basis and the latest status of their recovery, health and fitness determines their removal.
James’ agent on the other hand is optimistic about his client’s removal from the PUP list in a week or two. He at the same time admitted that it would depend on the knee situation, how it responds in the coming days.
Overall, it appears the player’s return to the season’s opener will be very difficult. As also sounded in the agent’s talk, the player is not comfortable and hundred percent about his knee and might prefer undergoing the knife before making himself available
for selection for the 2012 season.
Harrison had missed four games in the 2011 season with a broken bone in his eye socket. This year the knee problem might result in his absence for another couple games at least, including the opener.
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