Why Are Steelers Bringing Holcomb, Wilson Back from IR Now?
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers returned three players to practice on Tuesday, starting the 21-day practice windows for Cole Holcomb, Logan Lee and Roman Wilson.
Holcomb is returning from a major knee injury he suffered last November. Lee injured his calf late in the preseason, and Wilson is coming back from a pair of early season hamstring injuries.
The players have been working off to the side at practice for most of the season. So why were they returned to practice on Tuesday?
Once a player is on the injured reserve list, it’s totally up to the team if they come back, when they come back, and whether they come back at all — right up until they return to practice. Then the team must make a decision about whether or not they’ll return this season in the next 21 days.
Holcomb had a horrific injury, and he was legitimately out for months and months. But his actual return date? That was dictated by team need and the calendar.
If the Steelers had lost a player to injury at one of their positions over the last few weeks and opened up a roster spot, the Steelers probably would’ve returned one of these three to practice earlier. But most of the team’s recent injuries have been of the short-term variety and they’re surprisingly healthy entering Week 18.
It’s clear that the Steelers didn’t want to cut a Scotty Miller, Dean Lowry or Tyler Matakevich in order to bring back players that haven’t practiced all year and will be of very questionable value to a playoff-bound team at this point.
But now, the Steelers only have another guaranteed two weeks of practice time. A win in the Wild Card round might get them another one. It’s hard to see them together for much longer than that.
So now, there is little risk to returning those players to practice. If someone gets hurt in the next two weeks, now they’ll have some practice time under their belts and be able to step right in, giving the team a crucial insurance policy for the Wild Card round. In the unlikely situation that there are four weeks left in the Steelers’ 2024 season, they’ll cross that bridge when they get there.
The way the NFL injury rules work aren’t exactly fair to the players. Lee and fellow rookie Ryan Watts were injured at about the same time. Watts was placed on season-ending injured reserve because his was seen as more severe and the team used its preseason return slots on Dylan Cook and Jeremiah Moon instead.
There is a benefit for these players to being able to return. Holcomb will get to prove that he’s healthy after a career-threatening injury. Lee and Wilson will at least get to get back on the field to end what seem to be wasted rookie seasons.
“I think it’s huge being able to have a few weeks to get some practice in,” Lee said. “When you’re out on the sideline, you’re only hitting bags that don’t move. When the people start moving, it changes it, and makes it a lot more fun.”
I asked Holcomb, who has been without real football for 13 months, directly about the time since he’s known that he would eventually return, and waiting for Tuesday to come.
“Hey, what’s one more week,” he said.
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