Jason Worilds Injury Should Worry Pittsburgh Steelers
By Matt Shetler
Stop me if you heard this one before, but Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds is out with an injury.
That has been the case for most of his career and that trend has continued through OTAs.
Worilds went down early during the first OTA week with an undisclosed injury that was later revealed as a calf injury. The only sight that anyone has seen from Worilds is him riding the bike for the past two weeks.
While it makes no sense for Worilds to be out there this early if he is injured, his injury-riddled past should be a cause for concern for the Steelers.
Calf injuries can turn out to be major problems, just ask Troy Polamalu.
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Of course we don’t want to jump the gun here because we don’t know the severity of the injury, but it doesn’t do much for Worilds, who is still in search for a long-term deal from the Steelers. That being said, it may make sense for the Steelers to look to bring in another veteran outside linebacker before training camp begins.
Worilds wisely cashed in by signing his transition tag early and is in a position to parlay that into a big deal after the season, if he has a big year. However that next contract likely won’t be with the Steelers as you can understand their caution in beginning negotiations with the Virginia Tech product. Worilds doesn’t turn 27 until next March and set career highs in 2013 with 11 starts, eight sacks and 54 tackles.
“Absolutely, as far as long term,” Worilds said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “You put so much time and effort in with these guys, so you want to be here for the duration of your career.”
For that to happen, Worilds must not only show he can duplicate his success on the field from a year ago, but also must prove that he can be durable enough to withstand a 16-game season.
Hopefully for the Steelers’ sake Worilds is getting the injuries out of the way before training camp begins.