/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/50374625/usa-today-9453959.0.jpg)
Leading up to the Pittsurgh Steelers' first preseason game against the Detroit Lions at Heinz Field, the talk wasn't about players who were starting, players who could shine or even an undrafted rookie who might have a legitimate shot at making the 53-man roster.
No, the conversation was almost solely surrounding the news of Ladarius Green supposedly suffering from headaches which are keeping him off the field and stuck on the Physically Unable to Perform list, despite it being reported it was his surgically repaired ankle.
After the team's 30-17 loss to the Lions, Mike Tomlin was asked about the report, and he dismissed comment by saying the following:
"He's on PUP because of his ankle. We stated that," Tomlin said per Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "He's rehabbing nice. He's gotten better in that area, but he's not ready to go. I'm not going to respond to reports from unnamed sources."
The report, which stemmed from an unnamed source within the organization, made media and fans question the Steelers and ask how they wouldn't know of such a condition prior to signing him in free agency before the 2016 season, as well as questioning Green himself for possibly not disclosing the injury to the Steelers throughout the entire process.
Wherever you stand on the situation, all would be forgotten if Green is able to return to practice, and eventually games, prior to the team's Week 1 game against the Washington Redskins. Keep in mind, for all Tomlin didn't say about Green's reported headaches, he did state he is improving with his ankle injury.
In the meantime, everyone will continue to speculate what is actually keeping Green off the field, and how long it will take him to find his way back to the gridiron.