Pittsburgh Steelers LB James Harrison appears out of Denver Broncos game – NFL News
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison missed practice for consecutive third day on Friday, further confirming doubts about his availability for the season opener against the Denver Broncos this Sunday.
James caused a stir in the Steelers circles and media a day earlier, speculating he was going to make some major disclosure in front of journalists on Friday, which never happened.
He himself tweeted on the day claiming to be a game-time decision, which is not confirmed by any official of the team, making him almost uncertain for the weekend game.
The LB had a knee operation earlier in the offseason and had been in the recovery before being taken off the physically unable to perform (PUP) list in a surprise move by the team last week.
The sudden PUP removal decision was considered a strategic move by the team as leaving the LB on the list could have warranted his placement on the injured reserve (IR) list, which under the previous injury rules of the National Football League (NFL) would
have ousted him for the entire season.
The doubts expressed about full recovery and fitness of the player at the time of his removal from the PUP list have now become true that the player is unable to sustain training regime and probably requires more time for healing and rehab.
Although coach Mike Tomlin has refrained from saying anything about the latest recovery status of the LB, he appears far from declaring himself fully fit and available for selection.
James’ looming absence will have an impact on the position as they expect another linebacker Stevenson Sylvester also out of the side with a knee injury for the weekend game.
Meanwhile, the team expects return of LB Larry Foote from an ankle injury fully fit for the next game, which should make up for the loss of Harrison and Sylvester to an extent.
The Steelers have suffered more than probably any other team in terms of injury scares during the training and preseason phases. A day earlier, they placed guard David DeCastro on the injured reserve list, which served their purpose of creating a roster
space to accommodate new signee cornerback DeMarcus Van d**e. He is signed off the Oakland Raiders’ waivers.
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