Pittsburgh Steelers: Eli Rogers’ suspension means almost nothing

PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 14: Eli Rogers
PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 14: Eli Rogers

Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver, Eli Rogers, is facing a one-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. But really, it doesn’t mean much.

Eli Rogers is coming off an ACL injury that should’ve kept him out much longer than expected. After tearing his ACL in the Steelers’ postseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Rogers spent the entire offseason on the free agent market, trying to rehab his repaired ligament.

His progress moved much quicker than the timetable set for him, and therefore, the Steelers decided to bring him back on a one-year deal. As wideouts like Justin Hunter, Damuon Patterson and Marcus Tucker compete for the final receiver spot, Rogers was expected to have his place held while he finished recovery.

Yesterday, the wide receiver received a one-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. This doesn’t mean he failed a drug test, so everyone can put their Martavis Bryant hot takes away. It means something he was taking for his rehab wasn’t approved by the league.

What this means for Pittsburgh and Rogers is, nothing. This tends to happen to players every year who are coming off of major injuries. They claim they didn’t know what they were taking, the league slaps a game or two suspension on them and they’re forced to miss opening action.

Rogers wasn’t looking good for Week 1 as it is. He’s yet to participate in practice, so to play in a game two weeks away was a stretch. Really, sitting out Week 1 was going to happen whether the NFL said so or not.

Pittsburgh will have one of their receiver hopefuls fill the void while Rogers waits to be cleared. Likely not until Week 3 or 4.

With the emergence of JuJu Smith-Schuster and rookie sensation James Washington, the Steelers weren’t looking for much out of Rogers this season anyways. He’s coming off a 18 reception for 149 yards and a touchdown season. Thinking his impact is much higher with a better receiving core is far fetched.

This suspension is simply the NFL doing what they need to do. It doesn’t mean much for Rogers, and certainly doesn’t mean much for the Steelers.

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