Maurkice Pouncey Reveals 2019 Injury Was Meniscus Tear

Center Maurkice Pouncey missed the end of the Steelers’ 2019 season with a knee injury suffered in the team’s Week 16 loss to the New York Jets.


On Thursday, Pouncey revealed the nature of that injury as a torn meniscus and said that the took medical advice against a surgery, instead rehabbing his knee over the offseason.

“I could have gotten surgery, but they wanted me to rehab it and see how things played out with it,” Pouncey said. “Being an older player, that is kind of like your lubrication for your joints. I think it was a smarter decision just to rehab it throughout the offseason. I had a lot of time to work and get myself strong in that area. I kind of got lucky with the aspect of it not being a lingering issue, so hopefully it stays that way throughout the season. We will see how things turn out.”



Pouncey missed some time at the beginning of Steelers training camp due to a death in his family, but has otherwise been a full participant in the action at Heinz Field.

The veteran center is 31 years old and is entering his 11th season in the NFL, and has had several majors injuries over his career. He tore his right ACL and MCL in the 2013 season opener and missed the rest of that season. He suffered a broken fibula in a preseason game in 2015 that caused him to miss that entire year.

But the combination of age and injuries does not have Pouncey thinking too strongly about hanging up his cleats just yet. He has two seasons remaining on his contract, and did not commit to an end date to his reign as the Steelers center.

“I just think for me personally, it is all about having fun and enjoying it,” Pouncey said. “For me, contract is not an issue, years in the league is not an issue. I think for me, it’s just everyday I’m coming in and I’m enjoying it still. I think that the fact that the guys that we are bringing up, we have a good young group. The guys are still motivated, and I feel like I can still do it at a very high level. Until somebody proves me otherwise, then I will be playing.”