David Bridges
On Tuesday, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin didn’t provide any sort of update on rookie defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal, who was placed on the team’s Reserve/Injured list on Saturday and seemingly with a knee injury. On Tuesday afternoon, Leal provided his own update on his Instagram account. Well, sort of.
“Not finished 😈”, Leal posted on his account.
So, what does this mean? Does it mean that he’s not finished for the season? It’s obviously hard to know for sure, but that’s the way I’m choosing to interpret his short post.
Whatever Leal means, he still must miss at least four games now that he’s on the Reserve/Injured list. His knee injury news didn’t surface until the Friday injury report was released when he was listed as not practicing and then subsequently ruled out for the team’s Week 6 home game. On Friday night, however, Leal took part in the Rock Steelers Style event, and he was photographed without needing to use any crutches, which I also take as a positive.
If Leal’s knee injury required surgery, one would think that he would have had it by now. The fact that there are no signs of that happening just yet, can also probably be seen as a positive on this Tuesday night. We’ll see if that changes in the next few days.
With Leal sidelined this past Sunday, second year defensive end Isaiahh Loudermilk dressed for the first time this season and that might continue the next several weeks. With Leal, now on the Reserve/Injured list, the Steelers now have six defensive linemen on their active 53-man roster and two more on their practice squad in the form of Carlos Davis and Renell Wren.
Leal dressed and played in the Steelers first five games on his way to registering nine total tackles with one for a loss to go along with three passes defensed. He also had a blocked field goal in the first five games.
Here’s to hoping that Leal’s Tuesday message can be taken at face value so that he can return at some point after the team’s bye week. Stay tuned.
Ivy Caldwell
