Pittsburgh Steelers standout rookie center nearly suffers season-ending injury

Pittsburgh Steelers rookie center Zach Frazier He suffered a sprained ankle against the Las Vegas Raiders when he was rolled from behind at the end of a running play. However, the Steelers were lucky and it wasn’t much worse. Frazier is now close to returning and should return for the team’s game against the Washington Commanders after the bye week.

During his final season at West Virginia, Frazier suffered a broken leg against Baylor, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season. The same ankle was hurt against the Raiders, but Fraizer told The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo that if he hadn’t had a steel plate in his leg, the injury could have been much worse.

“Frazier said The Athletic that Dr. James Bradley, the team’s orthopedic surgeon, said that if it weren’t for the plate in his ankle from the college injury, he could have easily broken a bone and ended his season. In that way, the old college injury (and subsequent surgery) now feels like a blessing in disguise.” DeFabo wrote.

Frazier’s ankle is sprained in two different places, but his injury is minor and he even avoided a stint on injured reserve. That’s a big boost for the Steelers, who couldn’t afford to lose any more offensive linemen during the season if they wanted to make the playoffs. With Troy Fautanu, Nate Herbig and James Daniels out for the rest of the year, Frazier’s impending return will be even more important for Pittsburgh.

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