Nobody wants to see players suffer significant injuries during training camp, and it's even worse when a feared season-ending injury occurs before the pads even come on. Sadly, this is the case for Pittsburgh Steelers rookie tight end DJ Thomas-Jones.
On Monday, Nick Farabaugh of PennLive reported that Thomas-Jones is feared to have a ruptured Achilles. The injury occurred in the Steelers' final unpadded practice on Sunday. Mike Tomlin said after practice that the tight end's injury was significant... and it's as bad as we could have imagined.
If these fears are confirmed, it means Thomas-Jones' rookie campaign is over before it ever started. Though Thomas-Jones was an undrafted free agent, there was a visible path to the roster this year, and many Steelers media members predicted he would crack the team's final 53-man roster as a do-it-all fullback and tight end.
This devastating injury comes after the Steelers already lost veteran tight end Donald Parham for the season before training camp, with a season-ending Achilles injury suffered during OTAs.
With the brutal news, Thomas-Jones' career path just took a major hit, as he already had an uphill battle to prove himself in the NFL after going undrafted. Now the Steelers will be forced to take the next-man-up approach.
The Pittsburgh Steelers will look to the next tight end after DJ Thomas-Jones' feared Achilles injury
Unfortunately, the show must go on. While DJ Thomas-Jones begins a long rehab journey in what could be a year-long recovery process, the Pittsburgh Steelers are forced to look to the next man up.
We know Pittsburgh's top three tight ends this year will be Pat Freiermuth, Jonnu Smith, and Darnell Washington. But the next spot is up on the air. While nobody wanted to see Thomas-Jones go down, two players stand to benefit the most in the competition for the fourth tight end spot in Thomas-Jones' absence: Connor Heyward and JJ Galbreath.
Heyward is in the driver's seat for the job, being the veteran and former draft pick. Though Heyward is undersized and doesn't offer a ton on offense, he can wear many hats and earn his bread on special teams. Galbreath, meanwhile, has more potential as a receiving threat in the passing game. The South Dakota product showcased his receiving skills as a senior last year.
The latest injury news is another example of how quickly things can spiral out of control. The Pittsburgh Steelers already lost two tight ends for the season with Achilles injuries. Let's hope we can go the rest of training camp without seeing another major, season-ending injury like this.