Good News For Spence!

[Shoes]

Inside linebacker Sean Spence, who sprained the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against the Eagles, does not need surgery and should recover with rest and rehab. He could be out 2-4 weeks.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2014/08/24/Sloppy-defensive-showing-lights-fire-under-Polamalu/stories/201408240188#ixzz3BMLmkxZw

[Count Steeler]

That is good news. Kid has already gone through a lot. Glad he doesn't require surgery.

[zulater]

You still have to wonder if this latest setback will end his Steeler career. He went from being a virtual lock to make the final 53 to a longshot in my opinion. I think they give him an injury settlement and cut him. Or maybe they put him on the practice squad if he clears waivers? But he's just too injury prone. How can you carry him another season?

[Shoes]

You still have to wonder if this latest setback will end his Steeler career. He went from being a virtual lock to make the final 53 to a longshot in my opinion. I think they give him an injury settlement and cut him. Or maybe they put him on the practice squad if he clears waivers? But he's just too injury prone. How can you carry him another season?


That shouldn't be too hard Zu, look at all the uninjured dead weight the Steelers have kept over the years. :chuckle:

[steelreserve]

I don't know what to think. Sprained MCL/PCL injuries are one of those things where you COULD be ready inside of a month ... but just as often, you see guys come back, still not feel right, be ineffective for a week then tweak it the second week back, miss another month, then spend the rest of the season at half-speed and basically not contributing anything. I'm hoping it's the former, but seen the latter too many times not to harbor some doubts.

I still don't think we cut him. For one thing, he's come this far and it would be a shame to; and also, he looks like at least a good depth player who could be had for relatively cheap. If anything, this year's bumper crop of LBs will make it easier to play him only when he's really ready. There's no guarantee Moats will be back next season, and I'd be surprised if Worilds was, so there goes most of our depth. We'd be smart to have a guy like Spence, so long as thing injury thing is not becoming an every-day thing.

[TMC]

I do not think you keep him around for 2 years to get him back to this point to release him because of a 4-week injury. That just seems cruel.

[zulater]

I do not think you keep him around for 2 years to get him back to this point to release him because of a 4-week injury. That just seems cruel.


What makes him different than Willie Colon?

[Count Steeler]

What makes him different than Willie Colon?

He is not a penalty machine? Maybe he hasn't spoken to Ike yet?

[SteelMember]

It's not too uncommon for a player to injure the opposite side of the body compensating for a previous injury. He probably needed a little more time to mentally feel more confident with it, but time was the one thing he was running out of.

[zulater]

He is not a penalty machine? Maybe he hasn't spoken to Ike yet?

Colon gave this team 4 solid years of play before he becametoo injury riddled to stay on the field. Spence doesn't appear to possess the body to be an NFL player. Why reserve a roster spot for a guy who can't get on the field, let alone stay on it?

[Count Steeler]

Colon gave this team 4 solid years of play before he becametoo injury riddled to stay on the field. Spence doesn't appear to possess the body to be an NFL player. Why reserve a roster spot for a guy who can't get on the field, let alone stay on it?

From an outsider looking in, don't know. He hasn't used a roster spot yet, has he? He was on IR for 2 years, and I assume being paid very little.

He has shown some competency was he has been on the field, all pre season mind you. I would say see where he is at in 3-4 weeks and then assess. Worilds is looking to be in the same category of injury prone, so he is also on a short leash. However, I think he has 1 foot out the door anyway.

[SteelMember]

Colon gave this team 4 solid years of play before he becametoo injury riddled to stay on the field. Spence doesn't appear to possess the body to be an NFL player. Why reserve a roster spot for a guy who can't get on the field, let alone stay on it?
Well, If they didn't do it once already, your point would carry more weight. The fact they pretty much pulled a Woodson for him last year... who knows what they are thinking. Hopefully, they feel more confident with the depth this year to not have to consider an injured player that valuable to the team.

[Shoes]

*Spence has made it all the way back from that devastating setback, and he is a lock to make the 53-man roster.*

http://espn.go.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/post/_/id/8544/steelers-spence-downplays-knee-injury (http://espn.go.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/post/_/id/8544/steelers-spence-downplays-knee-injury)

[katmandu]

But he's just too injury prone. No on you Zu..... but I hate that phrase.... "injury prone".

That's like saying Boxers and hockey players are "injury prone". These guys play an extremely violent contact sport and shit accidents/injuries just plain happen haphazardly. Conditioning and illnesses aside, I don't believe anyone's body is more "prone" to injuries that any one else's.

[steelreserve]

No on you Zu..... but I hate that phrase.... "injury prone".

That's like saying Boxers and hockey players are "injury prone". These guys play an extremely violent contact sport and shit accidents/injuries just plain happen haphazardly. Conditioning and illnesses aside, I don't believe anyone's body is more "prone" to injuries that any one else's.


I do think a lot of guys pick up a bum rap for being "injury prone" because of things that are basically random accidents from violent collisions. You can break a bone or mess up your knee at any time; some guys are just lucky and some are unlucky in that respect.

On the other hand, you do have guys who get injured and then develop an ongoing problem with that body part, like Chad Pennington's shoulder, or linemen with bad backs, bad feet, etc. Or you get guys who for whatever reason seem to pick up high ankle sprains more easily than everyone else ... or guys like Woodley who seem to pick up nagging leg injuries every year, which might be a weight or conditioning problem. And then there's the unfortunate fact that if you pick up a serious injury like an ACL or a torn biceps, even if it was a freak accident, you're now somewhat more likely to re-injure it.

So there is some truth to it in certain cases, but since like you said, half of these things are basically random, that term is way overused.

[GBMelBlount]

So sometimes it's true and sometimes not.

Thanks. :chuckle:

[zulater]

All you guys who hated on Colon, an above average starter who didn't miss a start for like 4 years, called him injury prone, now trip over yourselves to make excuses for a guy who hasn't made a meaningful NFL play.

Go figure.

Call it random bad luck or whatever.
It's not about personality or good story, it's a practical matter. If the guy can't line up and play at his highest level come the first Sunday in September then I just don't see what his value is?


Maybe the Steelers see it differently? Just telling you what I think.

[steelreserve]

The difference if you ask me is that Colon started out healthy, reached his ceiling (which was about average) and then broke down. So we knew what we had, and it was no longer worth the trouble. Spence we hold on to because we haven't fully seen what he can do yet, and we still think there's a chance it'll be worth our while if these injuries were just bad luck.

The fact that Colon was on a contract paying a significant amount of money also played a big part in that decision. It's a lot easier to keep a guy around to "wait and see" on a $500K minimum salary than it is on a $5M salary. Especially when the potential payoff for the $5M guy is that he might get back to being an average lineman with some obvious flaws, and the payoff for the $500K guy is that he might be a real playmaker.