The Pittsburgh Steelers have had their share of injuries so far this season, and that unfortunate trend continues after the team’s 20-10 Week 3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers at Acrisure Stadium.

But before getting to the new players who are being added to the growing injury report, there has been some news surrounding an injury which happened Friday to rookie offensive tackle Troy Fautanu.

When Fautanu went down at practice, many people were seeking answers to several clarifying questions:

• Was this a re-injury of the sprained MCL suffered in the preseason?
• Did this have something to do with the reports of a concern over knee issues pre-draft?
• What in the world are the Steelers doing at practice?!

According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network the injury to Fautanu was considered a dislocated kneecap which will require surgery to repair. Will it end his season? It likely will end his regular season, but could return if a postseason run happens.

Sources: #Steelers impressive rookie RT Troy Fautanu, who was placed on IR this week, suffered what is essentially a dislocated kneecap and will have surgery to repair the ligament damage.

Fautanu is out for the regular season, tho could return if PIT makes the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/scilIo6Eqk

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 23, 2024

This would marry with Gerry Dulac’s report this weekend stating the injury was considered serious and could be a long term injury. In case you don’t know, a dislocated kneecap can be lumped into the “fluke” type of injury and not related to anything which happened prior to the regular season. We’ll see if Mike Tomlin addresses the injury at all during his Tuesday press conference, though I highly doubt fans get any clarification on the injury.

As for in-game injuries, the Steelers weren’t able to escape with a clean bill of health as the following players were listed by Tomlin post-game as having to leave the game with some sort of ailment:

• Alex Highsmith – Highsmith left the game with a groin injury and was unable to return to action. With the emergence of Nick Herbig the injury went rather unnoticed, but it will test an already thin outside linebacker corps if Highsmith misses any significant amount of time.
• Jaylen Warren – Tomlin was not specific in his post-game press conference when he talked about pulling Warren from the game when it became clear he wasn’t his normal self. An assumption, albeit hasty, would be a potential reaggravation of his hamstring injury which sidelined him the majority of the preseason.
• Cory Trice Jr. – Similar to Warren, Trice left the game on a special teams play when he suffered a hamstring injury of his own. After the game he was seeking further evaluation from the medical staff.
• Van Jefferson – Jefferson left the game with an eye injury, but was able to return and was back on the field in the 4th quarter of the game.

With the Steelers entering a Week 4 game vs. the Indianapolis Colts, it will be the final game players who started the year on Injured Reserve (IR) will have to miss before they are eligible to return. In the case of the Steelers’ offensive tackle situation, getting Dylan Cook back in the lineup could be a boost to their depth at that position.

Be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers, and their many injuries, as they prepare for the Indianapolis Colts in Week 4 of the regular season.