Latest surgery clouds Coates’ future
Tomlin not sure about when WR will return to field
As clouds and the Steelers rolled into Saint Vincent College Thursday afternoon, a particularly dark one hung over Sammie Coates again.
The talented wide receiver reported to training camp one week after a second knee surgery to repair a meniscus since the end of what turned into a miserable second season for him. This after he also had groin surgery in the offseason.
Coach Mike Tomlin placed Coates on the physically unable to perform list. That meant he cannot practice until they deem him healthy enough. Coates predict-edit would be two weeks; Tomlin wasn’t so sure how long it might be.
“I don’t have a hard and fast day at this juncture, no,” the coach said.
Yet Coates kept a sunny outlook for what lies ahead for him at what should be the most competitive position on a well-heeled offensive roster.
“It’s part of the game,” Coates said after lugging his stuff into the Saint Vincent College dorm he and his teammates will call home the next three weeks. “You’re going to have ups and downs. It’s how you come back. My goal is to come back strong like I started off last year and keep my injuries to a minimum.”
That’s not off to a good start. He had knee surgery to remove loose cartilage after the season but had to have another scope last week when it locked up on him. Those are not serious surgeries, but missing two weeks in the competition at wide receiver won’t get him off to a fast start. Among others competing for that No. 2 job alongside Antonio Brown will be Martavis Bryant and rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster.
“We have a bunch of phenomenal wide receivers, so it’s going to be competition every day,” Coates said.
With Bryant serving a season-long suspension, Coates got off to a blistering start in 2016. Through the first five games, he caught 19 passes for an average of 22.2 yards. Then came a broken finger on his left hand in the fifth game and another later on. He caught just two more passes for 14 yards the rest of the season.
Coates admitted losing confidence in himself, and his coaches then lost confidence in him.
“It’s all mental,” he said. “With a player like me, I was young, I was hot and stuff happens. It’s more of a head game than anything. Injuries are part of the game, but, if you let it get to you mentally, it’ll mess your whole game up.”
Coates insists he is in the right frame of mind now and that he is in great shape despite all the injuries.
“Hey, it’s part of the journey, you know,” Coates said. “I can’t do anything about it, just stay strong and keep fighting.”