ESPN insider Adam Schefter is now reporting that Pittsburgh Steelers rookie right guard David DeCastro suffered a dislocated right knee cap, a torn (MCL) medial collateral ligament and some damage to patellar tendon in the first quarter of the Saturday night preseason game against the Buffalo Bills.
There is a little bit of good news though, as Schefter reports that (ACL) anterior cruciate ligament is intact according to his sources, but that the Steelers are still unsure if or when he will be able to return this season.
By the sounds of things, DeCastro tore up his right knee pretty bad and at this point it is too early to speculate how much time he will ultimately miss if the Steelers do not think his injuries will end his season.
DeCastro might have been a candidate for the new 8 week injured reserve list that the NFL owners wanted added this season, but that rule has not yet been approved by the players’ union, and likely won\’t be by the start of the season.
Should the Steelers decide not to put DeCastro on injured reserve, they would have to carry him as member of the 53 man roster. Due to all of the injuries at linebacker, combined with an uncertainty of when and if DeCastro will be able to play at all in 2012, I suspect that he will be placed on season ending injured reserve.
