Max Starks placed on injured reserve
On Wednesday, 10 November, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ already decimated offensive line got more bad news after the team’s starting left tackle, Max Starks, was placed on injured reserve.
The move, which is directly related to the lineman’s recent neck injury, effectively ends Starks’ season.
The veteran, who is in his seventh year, out of the University of Florida, sustained the injury (which has been classified as neck stingers) during the Steelers’ most recent win over the Cincinnati Bengals Monday night.
Starks, who was an integral part of both the 2005 and 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl championship runs, will be sorely missed.
"Max has been my blind side for a while and you never like to lose a guy like that you have confidence in," Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said, according to
ESPN.com.
"But I have confidence that [Jonathan] Scott or whoever else it will be will do just fine protecting my back. I have confidence these guys will keep me upright."
The injury has essentially robbed the team of both of its starting offensive tackles, as right tackle Willie Colon was already sidelined with an injured Achilles tendon, a season-ending injury that he suffered back in June.
Now the Steelers will have to regroup and move forward. "It’s a huge blow, to have [Starks] out for the rest of the year is devastating," right guard Trai Essex told the media. "At the same time, this is life in the NFL. Injuries happen and you’re only as
good as your backups."
Although Starks is scheduled to have surgery on his neck sometime in the near future, the team expects him to make a full recovery and be ready for the start of the 2011 campaign.
The Steelers will look to fill the lineman’s void by either moving veteran right tackle Flozell Adams to Starks’ vacated position on the left side of the line, or trying their luck with second-string left tackle Jonathan Scott.
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