On Tuesday night, Steelers linebacker James Harrison’s agent said that Harrison might need to have arthroscopic surgery on his ailing left knee before the start of the season.
That surgery has happened a bit quicker than expected. Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on Wednesday morning that Harrison was in Pittsburgh to have the knee evaluated and then came back in the afternoon with a report that the scope had been performed. Per Bouchette, the scope “went well” although there’s no word on what that means in terms of recovery time.
Harrison hasn’t practiced in training camp because of the knee issue and he obviously won’t be practicing for a bit longer after having the procedure. That puts his ability to get on the field for Week One in serious doubt and may increase the likelihood that he starts the year on the physically-unable-to-perform list. If that happens, Harrison won’t be eligible to start practicing or playing until the Steelers have played six games.
If Harrison can’t make it back in time, the Steelers will likely use Chris Carter and/or Jason Worilds in his place.