Steelers linebacker James Harrison hasn’t practiced at all this summer because of a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery last week, but he doesn’t think that will present much of a problem when it comes to playing against the Broncos in Week One.
Harrison said that he will be working every day in order to test the fitness of his knee in hopes of getting on the practice field before the start of the regular season. Even if he’s only able to practice for a couple of days, though, Harrison believes he’ll be ready to play on Sept. 9.
“I might need a little prep, we got a couple of new things, but other than that I think I’ll be all right,” Harrison said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “You’ve got to get back in timing with the other guys and everything else, and a few days of practice would help.”
Because Harrison hasn’t practiced, the Steelers could still leave him on the physically-unable-to-perform list before the start of the regular season. They had the same option available with running back Rashard Mendenhall, but chose to activate him from the PUP list even though reports out of Pittsburgh indicate he’s unlikely to play in the first few weeks. Given that, it would be surprising if they chose to take that route with Harrison unless there’s another setback with his knee.