Steelers offensive lineman Zach Banner says he will have knee surgery after being injured Monday night against the Giants. Banner spoke on Twitter, saying the surgery will be on Friday and he looks forward to returning stronger than ever next year.
Banner’s injury adds to coach Mike Tomlin’s puzzle to patch together an offensive line after only one game. Stefen Wisniewski suffered a pectoral injury and Pro Bowl guard David DeCastro missed Monday night with a knee injury.
Tomlin was asked yesterday if the team might move left guard Matt Feiler back to tackle to fill the gap.
Chuks Okorafor will take over at right tackle, and if DeCastro and Wisniewski can’t play, rookie Kevin Dotson may start at guard. The injuries have prompted the Steelers to reportedly sign Jerald Hawkins off the Houston Texans’ practice squad, according to the Houston Chronicle, but a Steelers spokesman told the Post-Gazette that is not true. Hawkins was drafted in the fourth round by the Steelers in 2016 and was traded to Tampa Bay before last season. He signed with Houston in August, and the NFL transactions list says the Texans terminated that contract yesterday
Tomlin says that for the first game of the season, he thought his team’s conditioning was pretty good, although the defense got winded on the 19-play drive the Giants put together in the third quarter, a drive that ended with Cam Heyward’s end zone interception.
NFL stadiums are notoriously loud and difficult for visiting teams, but Tomlin thought it was actually tougher to hear with no fans Monday night.
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