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Steelers rookie guard David DeCastro underwent successful knee surgery Wednesday, and is expected to miss eight weeks.
In what looked like it could be far worse, the prognosis for his recovery is certainly positive. If that is the case, he'd be able to return around midseason.
This seems to fit right in line with the new IR rule, allowing a team to place a player on IR with a designation to return, giving the Steelers the ability to bring him back when he's healthy.
He will, though, have to be kept on the 53-man roster first. Teams have until 9 p.m. ET today to pare their rosters down to 53, and judging by the amount of Steelers players injured recently, and a strong group of low depth chart prospects, Mike Tomlin and his staff will no doubt have more than a few difficult decisions to make.
The guard position and offensive line in general may have a few of those tough choices. Considering the recent lack of depth at linebacker, and with that, kick and punt coverage teams, it appears as if the Steelers will keep an extra linebacker position, and make do as best they can with the offensive linemen they have.
It's all up in the air until the cuts are announced, though. Stay with Behind The Steel Curtain all day, we'll have those announcements as well as immediate analysis as soon as it is available.