Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Renell Wren will miss the entire 2023 season after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in his right foot.
Wren was in the Steelers locker room for the first time since having surgery to correct the injury on Wednesday. The team placed Wren on the injured reserve list on May 17, ending his season.
Wren was injured before the start of OTAs, in the time period that is referred to as the second phase of the team’s offseason conditioning program. He told the Tribune-Review that it happened while he was practicing coming out of his stance.
Wren has a long road to recovery. According to a 2010 study, only 64% of NFL players that suffered an Achilles tendon rupture returned to eventually play in the league. Those that returned did so an average of 11 months after their injury.
Wren will now spend his second straight season around UPMC Rooney Sports Complex without getting to play. He was on the Steelers practice squad for nearly the entire 2022 season. He received an elevation for the team’s Week 17 game against the Baltimore Ravens. The 27-year-old made his season debut but played sparsely in the game overall. Those were his only snaps in the 2022 season while with Pittsburgh.
A fourth-round draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019, Wren played 12 games and made two starts with the Bengals from 2019 to 2021, recording nine tackles, most of which came in his rookie season. This Achilles tear is not his first severe injury. In 2020, he suffered a severe quad injury that forced him to miss the entire season.