Mike Tomlin details David DeCastro injury, hopes to have All-Pro back soon

The Pittsburgh Steelers returned to the practice field for training camp on Monday after two consecutive off days. One player who left practice early Friday night due to injury was All-Pro guard David DeCastro. Following Monday’s practice, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about the status of DeCastro after he failed to mention him with other injuries to start the press conference.

“He’s just dealing with a lower body injury,” Tomlin answered. “ We are managing it. He’s managing it. Hopefully, he’ll be back out there soon.”

DeCastro has been sidelined for a decent portion of Steelers training camp in 2020 after missing the first week of padded practices. In what was only his third workout in full gear, DeCastro did not finish Friday night’s practice and is still being hampered by injury.

Missing games due to injury have not been a common theme in DeCastro‘s career as he has played all 16 games four out of the last six seasons. Even a significant hand injury in 2018 only cost him two contests.

But missing time may not be that much of a concern for DeCastro as long he is ready to go for Week 1. When he spoke with the Pittsburgh media back on August 10, DeCastro brought up the notion of a veteran group not necessarily needing the preseason games or a bunch of time to prepare for the season.

“Honestly, I think the training camp and all those preseason games are for younger guys,” DeCastro answered about the lack of preseason games in 2020. “I don’t think it takes much for us to get in shape as a veteran group. The older you get, less is more because you don’t need that pounding on your body.”

Even if the Steelers are still two weeks away from their first game for DeCastro to get healthy and back on the field, dealing with injuries at this point of training camp can make both the team and fan base nervous as we are only one week away from the typical weekly routine of the NFL season.

But as Coach Tomlin stated, hopefully we’ll see DeCastro back on the practice field real soon.

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