Isaac Seumalo’s Injury and What It Means for the Steelers
Isaac Seumalo, a Pittsburgh Steelers guard, becomes the most recent member of the roster to join the team’s extensive list of players who are out with injuries. Seumalo sustained a pectoral strain during practice last week and is expected to be out for at least a month. The guard is accompanied by Nate Herbig, a potential starting center who suffered a shoulder injury, Broderick Jones, the starting tackle with an elbow injury, and tackle Troy Fautanu, who has missed the first preseason games because of a knee injury. These injuries hold several implications for the Steelers, who are set to play the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have turned to Spencer Anderson, selected in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and rookie Mason McCormick as potential replacements for Isaac Seumalo. In his rookie season, Anderson appeared in eight regular season games, usually on special teams. McCormick played 70 games in his collegiate career at South Dakota State, even setting a school record for most consecutive games, 57. The rookie was a fourth-round pick in the draft and started his preseason and training off successfully, and recently stated that he would be ready to take the field if the Steelers needed him. However, the Steelers have expressed that they hope to avoid putting Seumalo on the injury reserve team, indicating that they anticipate him coming back sooner rather than later.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach, Mike Tomlin, remains optimistic about the list of players who are injured. “They appear to be turning the corner and moving toward availability,” Tomlin told reporters. The coach also explained that he expects Fautanu to be ready to return as early as the end of the week. As for Seumalo, the veteran is currently in his ninth NFL season, coming to the Steelers from the Philadelphia Eagles last year. He started in all of Pittsburgh's 17 games last year after proving to be a key player for the Eagles. Seumalo acted as a key reserve to help bring Philadelphia to victory in the 2017 Super Bowl and started on the NFC Championship squad for the Eagles in 2022.
