The Pittsburgh Steelers have been without rookie wide receiver Roman Wilson for about three weeks now after he suffered an ankle injury in practice on July 30.
Since then, Wilson's status for Week 1 has been up in the air. He was diagnosed with a sprained ankle that was considered week-to-week initially, so the thought was that his return was imminent.
However, according to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Wilson did not practice on Tuesday and the beat writer doesn't expect the rookie to play in preseason Week 3.
Adding to that, Fittipaldo believes a stint on injured reserve to start the season is possible.
Roman Wilson injury update
"I don't think he is going to play. He did not practice yesterday," Fittipaldo said on 93.7 The Fan. "His situation certainly bears watching. Obviously he's a third-round pick. They're going to carry him on the 53-man roster, but if you're a rookie and you don't play in any preseason games, depending on what else goes on with this roster, I think he's a candidate to start on IR.
"So, that's something to keep an eye on next week. Now, if he returns to practice later this week and next week, then we'll see. But not looking good for Roman Wilson right now."
Wilson spoke to reporters on Wednesday and confirmed he will not play in the preseason finale but said he hopes to return soon.
Roman Wilson said he hopes to be back soon. He acknowledged he won’t play Saturday.
— Ray Fittipaldo (@rayfitt1) August 21, 2024
Wilson still has a little over two weeks to get right before the start of the regular season, but even if he's able to do so, the fact that he missed pretty much all of training camp might limit his playing time early on in the season.
By all accounts, Wilson's arrow was pointing up before his injury, so it may not be long before he can secure a role if he doesn't have one over the first week or so.
Obviously, having Wilson start on injured reserve, which would require him to miss the first four games, would be terrible for a Steelers offense that is already lacking reliable weapons in the passing game.
Granted, Wilson is a wild card as a rookie, but Pittsburgh needs all hands on deck.
