Steelers Center Mason Cole Wearing Walking Boot

Sunday, Steelers center Mason Cole left his team’s 37-30 loss to the Bengals early with an apparent foot injury.

Monday, Cole was spotted inside the Rooney Complex with a walking boot on his left foot. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin will have an official update on the injury during his press conference Tuesday.

Following Cole’s injury against the Bengals, J.C. Hassenauer took over at center during the second half and appears to be the next man up if Cole does miss any time.

“That’s kind of the hardest role of being a backup, is being able to come in and being able to keep that gel regardless of who goes down,” Hassenauer told Steelers Now in the locker room following the Bengals loss. “Just with the cohesion of technique and understanding how other people might see things. Because, you know, during the week we can only get so many reps. The starters are going to take the majority of those, so, for a backup, you gotta really know how the other guys play, how the other guys see things.”

The Steelers scored just 10 points in the second half, including a late garbage-time touchdown, after putting up 20 in the first half.

While that certainly doesn’t all fall on Hassenauer’s shoulders, he did admit some struggles with entering the game on short notice.

On the flip side, though, this is how players seize opportunities in the NFL. Next man up.

Hassenauer understands that well.

“For me, it’s a huge blessing,” Hassenauer said. “I kind of use it as an opportunity to show my skill set, try to develop, try to learn the game better. I feel like each play, each drive, I was able to kind of get that gel better with the current line.”

We will continue to provide updates as Cole’s status changes.