Morgan Burnett not expected to return to action anytime soon

Since signing a $14.35 million contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers on March 20, very little has been heard from the team’s most expensive free agent signing of the offseason. Hampered by a hamstring injury he suffered during minicamp earlier in the year, Morgan Burnett seemingly spent more time on the sidelines than he did on the practice field at training camp and the regular season has not been much kinder to him either.

Despite returning to play in Week 1, Burnett would not make it to Week 3 after picking up a groin injury, and there appears to be very little optimism he will be returning to the field in the near future. When speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the former Green Bay Packers safety was leaving team facilities with plans to continue his rehab when he went back home for the bye week break, as he told Chris Adamski of TribLive.

“That’s what the bye week is for. To try to get healthy. I am just taking it day by day, I don’t know what’s in the future for me.”

Burnett has not come close to suiting up on game day over the past four weeks and has barely been able to participate in training, even in a limited capacity. This is not the first time the safety has tried to deal with a groin injury either, a problem that cost him two games in 2017 after also suffering a hamstring injury earlier that year too. A calf problem sidelined him for five games in 2015 and it is perhaps worth noting that Burnett has only played a full 16 game schedule twice in his nine year career, back in 2011 and 2012.

In his absence, rookie Terrell Edmunds has been thrust into a starting role, leaving Burnett to contribute as something of a coach to his young replacement, as the first round draft pick explained to Adamski.

“If he sees something in practice that I need to develop or get better at, he’s going to help me out, and even at the game he is on the sidelines, so he is talking to us each and every play…. because he’s a part of the team, too, so he tries to make sure that we’re the best team out there.”

With no plans on the horizon for surgery according to Adamski, it appears the Steelers are taking a patient approach with Burnett’s recovery and it seems safe to assume fans will not be seeing Burnet back in action anytime soon.