Kenny Pickett, Pat Freiermuth celebrate a touchdown.
Pittsburgh Steelers fans collectively held their breath when Pat Freiermuth hit the turf and grabbed his knee, writhing in pain. It’s hard not to fear the worst in those situations.
But what appeared to be a potentially devastating injury has turned out to be not so bad.
In his final press conference of the 2022 season, Mike Tomlin eased the mind of Steelers Nation. “I think it can be characterized as an MCL sprain, non-surgical,” Tomlin said. “So that’s exciting for him.”
On January 10, two days after the injury during the fourth quarter 28-14 win over the Cleveland Browns, the tight end spoke about the frightening injury for the first time.
“I’m feeling good,” Freiermuth said on 93.7 The Fan’s Off the Field with Aditi Kinkhabwala. Knee’s all good. It was just a little scare.”
Freiermuth divulged he heard a pop which made him nervous. After testing his ACL on the sideline, he headed for an MRI, and they said it was a grade two MCL (sprain).
“The whole time I thought, Do I need surgery? This is going to ruin my offseason,” Freiermuth shared.
Instead, it’ll be a month of rehab instead of surgery and the bulk of the offseason recovering.
The news comes as a huge relief for an up-and-coming vertical threat for young quarterback Kenny Pickett.
Concerns for Pat Freiermuth’s Health
The concerns for the health of Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth go well beyond the recent knee injury.
In Week 5’s historic loss versus the Buffalo Bills on October 9, Freiermuth sustained a concussion, his third in 11 months.
This would be #PatFreiermuth 3rd concussion in only his 2nd year of the @NFL.
With an eye toward player safety, concussions have been put under the microscope in today’s NFL. But the league hasn’t stopped them from happening. Unfortunately, it’s an inevitable part of the violent sport of football.
Freiermuth pushed Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin to let him play the following week. Without hesitation, Tomlin shot him down.
“When I had my first concussion this year, I was like, ‘I wanna play,'” Freiermuth told Aditi Kinkhabwala. “And [Tomlin] told me, ‘absolutely not. You’re not playing.”
“It just goes back to why guys wanna come to Pittsburgh and play for Coach T.”
Pat Freiermuth’s Potential in the Steelers System
When healthy, Pat Freiermuth is a force to be reckoned with. The hype surrounding the tight end was huge leading up to the 2021 NFL draft, and many projected him to go to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Sure enough, on April 29, 2021, Freiermuth did, much to the delight of the late Franco Harris, who announced the Steelers’ selection.
During Freiermuth’s rookie season, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada shared his excitement for the Penn State product with reporters.
“The decision to make that pick was a great one for us,” said Canada. “He’s making a lot of good plays. I’m a big fan of him.”
Now the Steelers need to use him better.
According to Pro Football Reference, in eight games this season, Pat Freiermuth logged fewer than 50 yards. In two of those games, his stat line read zero, and he had no targets at all in one.
While the second-year tight end notched 63 catches for 732 yards and two touchdowns and ranked sixth among all NFL tight ends in both receptions and yards, Pittsburgh should utilize him better — and more.
That comes with the Steelers drawing up an improved scheme that involves Freiermuth (and fellow tight end Connor Heyward, for that matter). Whether that will come from Canada, heading into his second year as offensive coordinator, or someone else, remains to be seen.
Better use of Freiermuth will also come with the further development of Kenny Pickett, something the former Nittany Lion is excited about.
Freiermuth acknowledged that the rookie quarterback improved as the season wore on.
“He’s more confident.” Freiermuth said of Pickett. “You can see in the first couple games he was playing not to make a mistake, but the mistakes were still happening. Then I don’t know what happened. It’s almost like someone just told him he’s a franchise quarterback and to just go play. And he stopped turning the ball over and started making plays.”
The sky is the limit for Pickett to Freiermuth. The Pittsburgh Steelers just need to make it happen.