PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers got a promising update on Derrick Harmon Saturday, and the rookie defensive tackle may only miss one game. Harmon suffered the injury on the play before his last play, which was the James Pierre interception.
On the play before, it is a run play, and late in the snap, Harmon gets rolled up on by the running back and other Steelers defenders.
According to Harmon, the team has laid out a week-to-week gameplan that could see him return early in the season. Initially, Harmon says he thought the worst, and was in the headspace that his season could be over.
“I got hit on the knee the play before,” Harmon said. “I played through it the next play and felt it. I wanted to get it checked out, and I didn’t know what it was at the time, and I was in a bad headspace."
Harmon came back out onto the field after being examined by trainers and fitted with a knee brace. Veterans Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt helped calm the rookie down until he got the ‘relief’ of his diagnosis.
“They were telling me to not get into my head, and to not think the worst,” Harmon said. “They helped cheer me up. Injures are part of this game.”
Even still, it is frustrating for Harmon, who started to get on a roll and round into form. Until he gets healthy, he is taking it week-by-week and wants to dive deeper into the playbook and his responsibilities while he is out.
“It’s frustrating,” Harmon said. “It’s just preseason and I was really excited for the regular season and compete at a high level. It sucks, but it’s part of the game we play. I have to attack this rehab."
It seems the Steelers avoided the worst-case scenario with Harmon, who will end up likely being able to return for the home opener against the Seattle Seahawks after the sprained MCL.
Now in good spirits, the Steelers will already start the rehab plan with Harmon and hope to get back even sooner than that timeline if possible.
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