Steelers Rookie Placed on IR After Suffering 'Much Worse' Injury

One of the biggest objectives of the preseason is to emerge without major injuries. And while that is always the goal, it doesn't always work out that way.

As the Pittsburgh Steelers know, injuries are inevitable. While star running back Jaylen Warren and rookie offensive tackle Troy Fautanu suffered injuries, neither was viewed as major. This led to the belief that the Steelers had seemingly emerged relatively unscathed from preseason.

However, the Steelers received their first dose of bad injury news Tuesday, as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac revealed rookie safety Ryan Wyatts will be missing the upcoming season.

"Rookie DB Ryan Watts’ injury much worse than feared," Dulac wrote on Twitter. "He is out for the year."

The sixth-round pick from Ohio State and Texas will now spend his rookie year on the injured reserve. This comes after the former Longhorn left the Steelers preseason finale loss to the Detroit Lions with an injury coach Mike Tomlin described as a "stinger."

However, as Dulac notes, the injury has turned out to be "much worse" than they originally thought.

Related: Steelers' Mike Tomlin Slammed For Quarterback Situation

Before the injury, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound defensive back was thought to be having a promising start to his NFL career. As a sixth-round pick, Watt, transitioning to safety with the Steelers after a college career at cornerback, was giving himself a chance to make the 53-man roster.

If Watts did make the roster, he would likely have been featured as a special teamer rather than an actual contributor on defense. However, losing a potential depth piece and special teams contributor isn't ideal, especially for a rookie like Watts.