Latest news with #Fautanu
San Francisco Chronicle
6 days ago
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
A knee injury cost Steelers' Troy Fautanu his rookie season. Hitting reset wasn't easy
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The moment when Troy Fautanu's rookie season came to a painful halt is seared into his brain. Asked to relive it on Wednesday after a rainy organized team activity, the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle lifted his massive right hand and pointed toward one of the far end zones in the fields tucked behind the club's practice facility. It was a Friday in late September. The 20th overall pick in the 2024 draft was coming off the first start of his career in Week 2 against Denver, fully healed from a sprained left knee that forced him to miss most of the preseason. Fautanu trotted onto the practice field with the rest of the offense for a series of 2-point conversion drills called 'seven shots.' Fautanu backpedaled to set up in pass protection when his right knee 'got caught up in the ground weird.' The rest of his 6-foot-4, 317-pound frame kept moving. His leg did not. The result? A tear in the ligament designed to keep the knee stable. Season-ending surgery soon followed, with lingering doubts about whether he could make it back not far behind. 'There were a lot of nights where you can't really see the light on the other side of the tunnel,' Fautanu said. It wasn't just the daunting physical rehab, but the emotional toll that came along with it. He knew as a first-round pick, that his job was to get on the field as quickly as possible. Now that was gone. He had already bought tickets for his family to come watch him play. Now they would hop on planes to watch him stand on the sidelines in sweats instead of on the field in his No. 76 uniform. For a player of Polynesian descent who counts Steelers Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu as one of his role models, and who had never really been hurt before and now found himself recovering a couple of thousand miles from home. It felt extraordinarily difficult in the moment. Looking back now, he believes it was also one of growth. He realized — with the help of nearly daily phone calls with his mother, Ma, — that he needed to stop trying to fast-forward to the end and lean into the healing process instead. 'I would say I was my biggest enemy sometimes, thinking about the future when really I had to just lock into what was going on that day," Fautanu said. 'But I felt like once I did lock in and really just focus on the day to day, I really like turned a corner on my recovery.' The Steelers feel confident enough in Fautanu's recovery that they have finally executed a long-gestating plan to have Fautanu start at right tackle with Broderick Jones — their top pick in 2023 — moving to left tackle. (The real beneficiary of Fautanu's misfortune may be Dan Moore Jr., who held down left tackle all of last season when Jones was forced to stay on the right side with Fautanu out. Moore signed a massive four-year deal with Tennessee in March.) The plan is to bring Fautanu along slowly. It's a plan Fautanu is fully on board with, though he'd be lying if he wanted to throw caution to the wind when that familiar adrenaline spike hit the first time he lined up when OTAs began on Tuesday. 'Once I took that first rep, it's like ... 'I don't want to get out. I don't want to want to get out,'' Fautanu said with a laugh, covering his mouth briefly after uttering an expletive to punctuate his point. 'So yeah, it's also like trying to be smart, but I'm a competitor, man. I love being out there.' So do the Steelers, who have invested heavily in the offensive line in recent years while their search for a franchise quarterback continues. If all goes as planned, Jones and Fautanu will serve as the bookends, with second-year center Zach Frazier in the middle, flanked by second-year guard Mason McCormick and veteran Isaac Seumalo. Fautanu doesn't think it will take long for the group to gel, in part because they're already 'super tight,' a bond that firmly took hold last fall as he navigated an uncertain path back to the field that was for more daunting than he anticipated. It wasn't fun. But it might have been necessary for someone who believes everything happens for a reason. 'It made me more hungry than I already was, and I was pretty damn ready to play,' he said. 'But yeah, I mean those nights sitting in my room like man, am I gonna come back, this, that and the other. There's a whole lot of thoughts going through my head, but at the end of the day I made it through and I feel like that's what made me stronger. That's what's going to make me and feel me to play the best that I can for this team."
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
A knee injury cost Steelers' Troy Fautanu his rookie season. Hitting reset wasn't easy
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The moment when Troy Fautanu's rookie season came to a painful halt is seared into his brain. Asked to relive it on Wednesday after a rainy organized team activity, the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle lifted his massive right hand and pointed toward one of the far end zones in the fields tucked behind the club's practice facility. It was a Friday in late September. The 20th overall pick in the 2024 draft was coming off the first start of his career in Week 2 against Denver, fully healed from a sprained left knee that forced him to miss most of the preseason. Fautanu trotted onto the practice field with the rest of the offense for a series of 2-point conversion drills called 'seven shots.' Fautanu backpedaled to set up in pass protection when his right knee 'got caught up in the ground weird.' The rest of his 6-foot-4, 317-pound frame kept moving. His leg did not. The result? A tear in the ligament designed to keep the knee stable. Season-ending surgery soon followed, with lingering doubts about whether he could make it back not far behind. 'There were a lot of nights where you can't really see the light on the other side of the tunnel,' Fautanu said. It wasn't just the daunting physical rehab, but the emotional toll that came along with it. He knew as a first-round pick, that his job was to get on the field as quickly as possible. Now that was gone. He had already bought tickets for his family to come watch him play. Now they would hop on planes to watch him stand on the sidelines in sweats instead of on the field in his No. 76 uniform. For a player of Polynesian descent who counts Steelers Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu as one of his role models, and who had never really been hurt before and now found himself recovering a couple of thousand miles from home. It felt extraordinarily difficult in the moment. Looking back now, he believes it was also one of growth. He realized — with the help of nearly daily phone calls with his mother, Ma, — that he needed to stop trying to fast-forward to the end and lean into the healing process instead. 'I would say I was my biggest enemy sometimes, thinking about the future when really I had to just lock into what was going on that day,' Fautanu said. 'But I felt like once I did lock in and really just focus on the day to day, I really like turned a corner on my recovery.' The Steelers feel confident enough in Fautanu's recovery that they have finally executed a long-gestating plan to have Fautanu start at right tackle with Broderick Jones — their top pick in 2023 — moving to left tackle. (The real beneficiary of Fautanu's misfortune may be Dan Moore Jr., who held down left tackle all of last season when Jones was forced to stay on the right side with Fautanu out. Moore signed a massive four-year deal with Tennessee in March.) The plan is to bring Fautanu along slowly. It's a plan Fautanu is fully on board with, though he'd be lying if he wanted to throw caution to the wind when that familiar adrenaline spike hit the first time he lined up when OTAs began on Tuesday. 'Once I took that first rep, it's like … 'I don't want to get out. I don't want to want to get out,'' Fautanu said with a laugh, covering his mouth briefly after uttering an expletive to punctuate his point. 'So yeah, it's also like trying to be smart, but I'm a competitor, man. I love being out there.' So do the Steelers, who have invested heavily in the offensive line in recent years while their search for a franchise quarterback continues. If all goes as planned, Jones and Fautanu will serve as the bookends, with second-year center Zach Frazier in the middle, flanked by second-year guard Mason McCormick and veteran Isaac Seumalo. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Fautanu doesn't think it will take long for the group to gel, in part because they're already 'super tight,' a bond that firmly took hold last fall as he navigated an uncertain path back to the field that was for more daunting than he anticipated. It wasn't fun. But it might have been necessary for someone who believes everything happens for a reason. 'It made me more hungry than I already was, and I was pretty damn ready to play,' he said. 'But yeah, I mean those nights sitting in my room like man, am I gonna come back, this, that and the other. There's a whole lot of thoughts going through my head, but at the end of the day I made it through and I feel like that's what made me stronger. That's what's going to make me and feel me to play the best that I can for this team.' ___ AP NFL:
Fox Sports
6 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
A knee injury cost Steelers' Troy Fautanu his rookie season. Hitting reset wasn't easy
Associated Press PITTSBURGH (AP) — The moment when Troy Fautanu's rookie season came to a painful halt is seared into his brain. Asked to relive it on Wednesday after a rainy organized team activity, the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle lifted his massive right hand and pointed toward one of the far end zones in the fields tucked behind the club's practice facility. It was a Friday in late September. The 20th overall pick in the 2024 draft was coming off the first start of his career in Week 2 against Denver, fully healed from a sprained left knee that forced him to miss most of the preseason. Fautanu trotted onto the practice field with the rest of the offense for a series of 2-point conversion drills called 'seven shots.' Fautanu backpedaled to set up in pass protection when his right knee 'got caught up in the ground weird.' The rest of his 6-foot-4, 317-pound frame kept moving. His leg did not. The result? A tear in the ligament designed to keep the knee stable. Season-ending surgery soon followed, with lingering doubts about whether he could make it back not far behind. 'There were a lot of nights where you can't really see the light on the other side of the tunnel,' Fautanu said. It wasn't just the daunting physical rehab, but the emotional toll that came along with it. He knew as a first-round pick, that his job was to get on the field as quickly as possible. Now that was gone. He had already bought tickets for his family to come watch him play. Now they would hop on planes to watch him stand on the sidelines in sweats instead of on the field in his No. 76 uniform. For a player of Polynesian descent who counts Steelers Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu as one of his role models, and who had never really been hurt before and now found himself recovering a couple of thousand miles from home. It felt extraordinarily difficult in the moment. Looking back now, he believes it was also one of growth. He realized — with the help of nearly daily phone calls with his mother, Ma, — that he needed to stop trying to fast-forward to the end and lean into the healing process instead. 'I would say I was my biggest enemy sometimes, thinking about the future when really I had to just lock into what was going on that day," Fautanu said. 'But I felt like once I did lock in and really just focus on the day to day, I really like turned a corner on my recovery.' The Steelers feel confident enough in Fautanu's recovery that they have finally executed a long-gestating plan to have Fautanu start at right tackle with Broderick Jones — their top pick in 2023 — moving to left tackle. (The real beneficiary of Fautanu's misfortune may be Dan Moore Jr., who held down left tackle all of last season when Jones was forced to stay on the right side with Fautanu out. Moore signed a massive four-year deal with Tennessee in March.) The plan is to bring Fautanu along slowly. It's a plan Fautanu is fully on board with, though he'd be lying if he wanted to throw caution to the wind when that familiar adrenaline spike hit the first time he lined up when OTAs began on Tuesday. 'Once I took that first rep, it's like ... 'I don't want to get out. I don't want to want to get out,'' Fautanu said with a laugh, covering his mouth briefly after uttering an expletive to punctuate his point. 'So yeah, it's also like trying to be smart, but I'm a competitor, man. I love being out there.' So do the Steelers, who have invested heavily in the offensive line in recent years while their search for a franchise quarterback continues. If all goes as planned, Jones and Fautanu will serve as the bookends, with second-year center Zach Frazier in the middle, flanked by second-year guard Mason McCormick and veteran Isaac Seumalo. Fautanu doesn't think it will take long for the group to gel, in part because they're already 'super tight,' a bond that firmly took hold last fall as he navigated an uncertain path back to the field that was for more daunting than he anticipated. It wasn't fun. But it might have been necessary for someone who believes everything happens for a reason. 'It made me more hungry than I already was, and I was pretty damn ready to play,' he said. 'But yeah, I mean those nights sitting in my room like man, am I gonna come back, this, that and the other. There's a whole lot of thoughts going through my head, but at the end of the day I made it through and I feel like that's what made me stronger. That's what's going to make me and feel me to play the best that I can for this team." ___ AP NFL: recommended
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
A knee injury cost Steelers' Troy Fautanu his rookie season. Hitting reset wasn't easy
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The moment when Troy Fautanu's rookie season came to a painful halt is seared into his brain. Asked to relive it on Wednesday after a rainy organized team activity, the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle lifted his massive right hand and pointed toward one of the far end zones in the fields tucked behind the club's practice facility. Advertisement It was a Friday in late September. The 20th overall pick in the 2024 draft was coming off the first start of his career in Week 2 against Denver, fully healed from a sprained left knee that forced him to miss most of the preseason. Fautanu trotted onto the practice field with the rest of the offense for a series of 2-point conversion drills called 'seven shots.' Fautanu backpedaled to set up in pass protection when his right knee 'got caught up in the ground weird.' The rest of his 6-foot-4, 317-pound frame kept moving. His leg did not. The result? A tear in the ligament designed to keep the knee stable. Season-ending surgery soon followed, with lingering doubts about whether he could make it back not far behind. 'There were a lot of nights where you can't really see the light on the other side of the tunnel,' Fautanu said. It wasn't just the daunting physical rehab, but the emotional toll that came along with it. He knew as a first-round pick, that his job was to get on the field as quickly as possible. Now that was gone. He had already bought tickets for his family to come watch him play. Now they would hop on planes to watch him stand on the sidelines in sweats instead of on the field in his No. 76 uniform. Advertisement For a player of Polynesian descent who counts Steelers Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu as one of his role models, and who had never really been hurt before and now found himself recovering a couple of thousand miles from home. It felt extraordinarily difficult in the moment. Looking back now, he believes it was also one of growth. He realized — with the help of nearly daily phone calls with his mother, Ma, — that he needed to stop trying to fast-forward to the end and lean into the healing process instead. 'I would say I was my biggest enemy sometimes, thinking about the future when really I had to just lock into what was going on that day," Fautanu said. 'But I felt like once I did lock in and really just focus on the day to day, I really like turned a corner on my recovery.' The Steelers feel confident enough in Fautanu's recovery that they have finally executed a long-gestating plan to have Fautanu start at right tackle with Broderick Jones — their top pick in 2023 — moving to left tackle. (The real beneficiary of Fautanu's misfortune may be Dan Moore Jr., who held down left tackle all of last season when Jones was forced to stay on the right side with Fautanu out. Moore signed a massive four-year deal with Tennessee in March.) Advertisement The plan is to bring Fautanu along slowly. It's a plan Fautanu is fully on board with, though he'd be lying if he wanted to throw caution to the wind when that familiar adrenaline spike hit the first time he lined up when OTAs began on Tuesday. 'Once I took that first rep, it's like ... 'I don't want to get out. I don't want to want to get out,'' Fautanu said with a laugh, covering his mouth briefly after uttering an expletive to punctuate his point. 'So yeah, it's also like trying to be smart, but I'm a competitor, man. I love being out there.' So do the Steelers, who have invested heavily in the offensive line in recent years while their search for a franchise quarterback continues. If all goes as planned, Jones and Fautanu will serve as the bookends, with second-year center Zach Frazier in the middle, flanked by second-year guard Mason McCormick and veteran Isaac Seumalo. Fautanu doesn't think it will take long for the group to gel, in part because they're already 'super tight,' a bond that firmly took hold last fall as he navigated an uncertain path back to the field that was for more daunting than he anticipated. Advertisement It wasn't fun. But it might have been necessary for someone who believes everything happens for a reason. 'It made me more hungry than I already was, and I was pretty damn ready to play,' he said. 'But yeah, I mean those nights sitting in my room like man, am I gonna come back, this, that and the other. There's a whole lot of thoughts going through my head, but at the end of the day I made it through and I feel like that's what made me stronger. That's what's going to make me and feel me to play the best that I can for this team." ___ AP NFL:
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Which offensive lineman does this insider target for the Steelers?
For the first time in a long time, the Pittsburgh Steelers are heading into free agency with a lot of money to spend and some serious spots that must be upgraded. One position you might not have thought about as a major offseason need is the offensive line. But according to NFL reporter Brain Baldinger, the Steelers have their eye on a big-time free-agent offensive lineman and aren't afraid to spend some money to get them. Baldiner was on his podcast, In The Huddle with Jason La Canfora and offered some insight on what he's hearing out of Pittsburgh as far as their offensive line. "Their number one pick last year was hurt all year, Fautanu, he's coming back," Baldinger said. "They're probably gonna hit, I mean, I've talked to people in Pittsburgh. There's a certain free agent offensive lineman that's gonna be available out there that they have their eyes on." Baldinger didn't give any names but we aren't afraid to speculate. If we assume Fautanu is coming back to start at right tackle, the Steelers would be in the market for a guard. Maybe to replace Isaac Seumalo and he becomes a cap casualty. If that's the case and we are thinking big, it has to be Kansas City's Trey Smith. He's the best free-agent offensive lineman in the entire offseason. But maybe the Steelers plan to use Fautanu at guard and they are eyeing a veteran offensive tackle to pair up with all this youth. The best offensive tackle is Ronnie Stanley but rumor has it he's very close to re-signing with the Baltimore Ravens. The next-best option is either Jacksonville's Cam Johnson or Los Angeles' Alaric Jackson. This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers could be in line for huge free agent signing at OL
