The Pittsburgh Steelers received a major scare last night when first-round pick Derrick Harmon was carted off the field. Harmon went down after appearing to twist his leg with an offensive lineman during a pass rush. His injury was initially described as a knee injury during the first half broadcast, and was immediately ruled otu for the rest of the game. Things seemed grim.
However, Harmon did return to the sideline in street clothes and was seen talking and laughing with his teammates.
Tomlin spoke to reporters after the game and described Harmon’s injury as a “knee sprain of some description.” When asked how severe the injury could be, Tomlin declined to answer. Now, after further evaluations, we know the full extent of the injury.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Harmon has been diagnosed with an MCL sprain.
“He’s expected to be out about a month, which makes him a candidate to begin the year on IR,” Rapoport said.
While the final injury diagnosis is more severe than anticipated, it is still a huge sigh of relief for Pittsburgh. Harmon missing a month puts him on track to potentially return around week three of the regular season, but as Rapoport suggests, the young defensive lineman could land on injured reserve to start his rookie year.