Not that there was ever much doubt, but the season for Steelers tackle Willie Colon is officially over. The black and gold Tuesday placed the 28-year-old on injured reserve, ending his year.
The move came a few hours after he underwent surgery to repair a torn right triceps sustained in a season-opening loss to the Ravens.
This is the second straight year Colon’s season has been cut very short. He missed all of last year after rupturing his Achillies’ tendon in mini-camp, but the team was so confident he would bounce back it signed him to a five-year, $29 million contract in July.
“For Willie, going down two consecutive seasons is a tough blow,” Mike Tomlin said. “We will keep him close and encourage him, and help him through what is going to be a tough time with rehab.”
Rookie Marcus Gilbert will get the first crack at replacing Colon when the Steelers host Seattle on Sunday. Gilbert, taken in the second round of this year’s draft, impressed during the preseason.
“He’s a talented young guy,” Tomlin said of Gilbert. “He doesn’t have a great deal of experience but we are going to give him an opportunity to play and show what he’s capable of.”
The Steelers signed well-traveled veteran Jamon Meredith to fill Colon’s roster spot. Meredith, who played a total of five games for three teams last year, was waived by the New York Giants this month.
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The Tony
September 14, 2011 at 9:06 am
This is definitely a hit to the offensive line, however I am anxious to see how Gilbert performs on the same line as former teammate Pouncey. After the first games debacle switching up the line a bit my not be the worst thing in the world. However I find it unexcusable that that the Steelers did not address the blatantly obvious needs on the o-line and in the secondary. It was ridiculous that the Steelers brought back a consistently injured and aging Aaron Smith for the 9 million we owe him. With that money we could have upgraded our defensive backs or bring in a legit left tackle. Granted it is only week two in the season, but I believe that if the secondary remains to under preform then lets give a lot more playing time to our younger backs in Brown and Lewis. I still believe this team has what it takes to make it back into the playoffs, but it could be a very long season in this new pass happy league
Jay
September 14, 2011 at 5:00 pm
I say the same things on here that The Tony is saying only with more animus and more expletives and I am labeled as having issues and told that I am over reacting and to keep things in perspective! How about like this: Please, pretty please, Pittsburgh front office, you have been overrated for some time now riding the coattails of an elite QB. Your slightly sentient secondary is only surpassed by the decrepit, overpaid D-Linemen and the O-line’s capabilities are on par with most Quad A high schools! I implore you to become relevant in free agency and, since you’re drafting at the end of the first round relatively frequently, you might want to consider veering from your vanilla draft stance and actually move up and grab someone of consequence once in a while. You’ve won in spite of these deficiencies, not because of!