Despite the fact that he's been healthy and logging full practices for multiple weeks now, rookie wide receiver Roman Wilson still hasn't dressed for the Pittsburgh Steelers in a game this season.
It's an odd decision to say the least. After all, the Steelers are short on reliable options in the passing game, and while Wilson isn't guaranteed to help that issue, it's at least worth it to give him a shot to.
Before practice on Thursday, Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith touched on the subject, saying there are multiple things at play, like the amount of time Wilson missed due to injury and his conditioning. Smith did add that he expects the rookie will get a chance "sooner rather than later."
"You're talking about a lot of time missed for a young player," Smith said, per Mark Kaboly. "He's working very hard. I would imagine it would happen sooner rather than later, but it's not like you've got to meet a certain metric. A lot of it's getting back into game shape... It's just, can you miss all training camp, get your legs back in? It's not like a guy that played four games and missed a week or two. There's a lot of football conditioning and, certainly young guy, mentally, too. Very pleased with the progress he's made, though."
That basically echoes what head coach Mike Tomlin said on the matter.
"And specifically as it pertains to Roman, he got hurt on the sixth play of the first practice (in pads) of training camp," he said a few weeks back. "And so there are some developmental things, there are some physical plays and conditioning and learning and things that go into his process that are not reflective of the overall process. Roman doesn’t have a whole lot of in-helmet experience to draw from. He’s healthy, but he still has a lot of work ahead of him in terms of being game ready."
For the second week in a row, Wilson is not listed on the injury report at all. We'll see if he finally gets his shot in Week 6, but don't hold your breath for it.
