Steelers Rule Out Key Offensive Starter for Week 1 Opener

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without a key offensive starter for their regular season opener against the Atlanta Falcons.

Head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters that starting left guard Isaac Seumalo will not play on Sunday as he recovers from a pectoral injury. Tomlin, however, was optimistic that it won’t be a long-term issue.

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“We did get good news regarding his pec injury,” Tomlin said to reporters. “We’ll characterize [it] as week-to-week, and we’ll see where next week leads us, but really optimistic about his return sooner rather than later.”

Seumalo, 30, signed a three-year, $24 million deal with the Steelers last offseason. He started all 17 games for the Steelers last year, marking just the third season of his career in which he started every game.

Seumalo spent the first seven years of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles drafted Seumalo with the 79th overall pick in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. The Oregon State native started 60 games across his seven seasons in Philadelphia.

Seumalo is now one of the key pieces of the Steelers offensive line. With him out this weekend, second-year lineman Spencer Anderson is slated to get the start, the first of his NFL career. Anderson was selected in the seventh round of last year’s draft by Pittsburgh. He appeared in eight games his rookie season, and Tomlin loves his versatility.

“His versatility was a calling card that allowed him to sustain, but the longer he is here, you better specialize in a certain area,” Tomlin said of Anderson. “And really his growth and development kind of reminds me a lot of [former Steelers lineman] Kelvin Beachum.”

While Seumalo is going to miss Week 1 and potentially more, Tomlin did have some good news regarding a handful of injured Steelers.

Tomlin said that running back Jaylen Warren, rookies Roman Wilson and Troy Fautanu, and defensive back Cory Trice all participated in practice on Monday. He said he was optimistic about all those players as they trend in the right direction for a return.

“We had some guys dealing with some short-term misery regarding injury, but those guys that I mentioned appear to be turning the corner and moving toward availability,” Tomlin said. “We’ll watch as we go through the week and make sure we don’t get any negative trends, not only from a health standpoint. Some of these guys don’t have extended resumes and so we’ll be watching the quality of their play as well as we reengage them in this… process.”