Steelers Guard Nearing Return from Injury

PITTSBURGH — Steelers guard Nate Herbig is nearing a return from his shoulder injury, he said on Saturday. Herbig missed the last two preseason games after suffering the injury at the end of training camp. Now that the preseason is over, Herbig believes he will be ready for the regular season and out there.

“I’m ready to play,” Herbig said. “I just listen to the medical staff and what they tell me and the plan they have for me. That’s what I’ll be doing.”

In their first game, Herbig played 32 snaps over the course of the game. He is in consideration for the backup center job along with Kendrick Green and Spencer Anderson. With little work center in the preseason, it can be tenuous to trust him entirely there, but he did backup Jason Kelce for some years in Philadelphia.

“I didn’t snap much last year but I was the backup center for a couple of years in Philly behind Kelce,” Herbig said. “Wherever they need me to play, they got it.”

It sounded like Herbig wanted to play on Thursday against the Falcons to get work in at center. But the injury forced the Steelers to go against that idea, instead opting to sit him and let Green do most of the snapping for the game.

“If I am going to play center in a game, I don’t want the first time to be Week 1 against San Francisco,” he said before the game.

Now, Herbig is getting close to being fully back onto the field. Kevin Dotson is also dealing with a shoulder injury, while James Daniels was out with a minor, day-to-day injury against the Falcons. So, Herbig’s return would help boost that depth that Pittsburgh needs along the offensive line, with some of those injuries beginning to pile up for the group.