The Steelers Just Got HUGE Injury News on Max Ikem and Eli Heidenreich
The Pittsburgh Steelers received some encouraging injury news Monday as first-round offensive tackle Max Ikem appeared on the field in pads despite initially being ruled out for practice. Ikem suffered a shoulder injury last week, but his return to the field is a very positive sign as Pittsburgh prepares for its first preseason game. Rookie seventh-round pick Eli Heidenreich also returned to practice in pads, giving the Steelers another boost heading into a huge week of preparation.
Video Transcript
The Pittsburgh Steelers were back on the grass on Monday, or at least for a little bit, and while they were out there, there was some really good news surrounding first-round pick Max Ionnatto.
As many of you guys know, we were in Latrobe last week.
Thursday practice rolls around, Ionnatto leaves early, heads up the hill due to what the Steelers at that time called an upper body injury.
Turned out to be a shoulder situation.
Mike McCarthy said that he would miss the remainder of the week, but would return Monday.
Well, Mike McCarthy speaks to the media on Monday morning before practice starts, says, "I don't think we're gonna see Max today.
He should be fine long-term, but he's still not ready to go."
Then practice rolls around, and as you can see in this tweet from Brooke Pryor, despite, quote, "Despite Mike McCarthy saying Max Ionnatto would not practice, he's on the field in pads and just took an individual rep." Now, here's where things get interesting.
We don't know how much Max Ionnatto would have participated because a little bit, well, you know, a few minutes after this tweet from Brooke Pryor, all the tweets came out that the Steelers essentially canceled practice.
They moved to the indoor.
Fans were made to evacuate St. Vincent College.
The media was not allowed in the indoor, and that's really all that we saw.
But it remains a very good sign for the Pittsburgh Steelers because as we reported last week, they're watching Max Ionnatto up close and in person.
This guy has been phenomenal.
He has been everything you want from a rookie offensive tackle, cert- and certainly one who has been labeled as green or needs time to develop.
So very good news on that front.
Another good news on the injury front, or more good news on the injury front, Eli Heidenreich was back in pads on Monday.
The rookie seventh rounder, the hometown kid out of Mount Lebanon, appears to be ready to go for what will be a huge week leading up to the Steelers' first preseason game on Thursday.
