The best ability is availability. For Pittsburgh Steelers CB Cory Trice Jr., he’s missing it to every degree, for all his other talent and potential. The size, the physicality, the glimpses that showed he belonged, health has always been his obstacle. That’s been as true as ever in 2025. An injured hamstring in early August that sidelined him until this week. He returned to practice on Wednesday, made it through one session, and then injured his knee during Thursday’s session. He sat out Friday and was ruled out on the team’s final report.
The details of the injury aren’t known. Perhaps it’s not major, though, maybe it is. Either way, it seems unlikely Trice will be activated from injured reserve before his 21-day window closes, meaning he’s set to spend the rest of the season on IR, a place he’s spent far too much time.
His history isn’t a secret. Injuries are what pushed him down to the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Injuries are what’s allowed him to play only 193 snaps and only one of three NFL seasons. To put it in context, here’s a history of all the injuries we’ve known he’s suffered since high school.
– 2017: Broken ankle
– 2021: High ankle sprain
– 2021: Torn ACL
– 2023: Torn ACL
– 2024: Hamstring injury
– 2025: Hamstring injury
– 2025: Unspecified knee injury
A heavy list. All related to his leg, knee, or foot. Trice has been placed on injured reserve for parts or all of his three NFL seasons.
It’s not his fault. Trice is simply snake-bitten. Returning on Wednesday, he seemed upbeat and positive to reporters and remained confident in his ability. That’s never been in doubt. However, injury after injury has cost him the runway given to NFL players, especially seventh-round picks.
Some have compared him to Senquez Golson. As two always-injured cornerbacks, there are obvious parallels. But Trice, to his credit, appeared in NFL games. Golson never made it that far. Golson never appeared in a single game in his NFL career, hurt every spring or summer before preseason or exhibition action. Still, the endings will be the same. Trice simply seems out of time.
Yes, he’s under contract for one more season. Pittsburgh could bring him back. But there can’t be any hope or plan or expectation of him being in the fold next season, and it’s possible the Steelers cut ties with him in the offseason. Golson didn’t make it through his entire rookie deal, and he was a significantly higher draft pick. Trice is easy to root for. However, his health is impossible to trust, and reflecting on his career, he’ll be remembered as a big ‘what-if.’
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