Steelers 1st-rounder Troy Fautanu 'excited to attack the offseason' after injury

Jan.

13Troy Fautanu knew his right knee felt off when he sat down in one of his pass-protection sets leading up to Week 3 against the Chargers.

But he still wasn't quite prepared for the MRI results to reveal a season-ending injury.

"All I remember was I was crying, and I don't cry too much," Fautanu said Monday afternoon as Steelers players were clearing out their lockers.

"But it was pretty heartbreaking because you have so much expectation coming into this year especially from myself.

I expect a lot of myself with how much work I put in.

Obviously, it cut my season short very short." As one of the team's older first-round picks in recent years, Fautanu's maturity was on full display as he lamented what was mostly a lost rookie season.

He started the only game he played, Week 2 in Denver, initially rotating with Broderick Jones but eventually sticking at right tackle.

Fautanu was preparing to start again when that knee "kind of just gave out" that Friday in practice.

He admitted it was never realistic to expect he could return in the playoffs, but "100% I'll be ready" by OTAs in the spring.

"Mentally, I've been wanting to play football.

It feels like I haven't played football in years," Fautanu said.

"I'm excited to attack the offseason.

I've had my time off these past four months.

I'm ready to go." Fautanu already has some fans concerned that he's injury-prone, but the 20th overall pick said he had no issues with that knee throughout his final two years in college.

While he did previously have a torn ACL, he didn't even wear a knee brace on either side by the end of his college career and insisted it was a freak incident.

He also clarified it had nothing to do with the preseason ankle injury against the Texans, when he was rolled up on by a defender on the other leg.

Fautanu missed training camp practices, the final two preseason games and the season opener because of that one, only for a far more significant setback to hit him once he worked his way back.

"This one was a one-off, a weird situation, kind of something you can't really prevent," Fautanu said.

"Unfortunate." As Fautanu understands it, he'll continue to be at right tackle with the Steelers, the opposite side he played in college at Washington.

Assuming Dan Moore Jr.

leaves in free agency, Broderick Jones can shift back to his more natural position on the left.

With those two as the bookends, with first-round picks invested in them, team rookie of the year Zach Frazier at center and fourth-rounder Mason McCormick coming off a season with 14 starts at right guard, the future should be bright for the Steelers offensive line.

"I'm so happy for those guys," Fautanu said.

"If you really see how Mason and Zach work, they deserve everything they got." (c)2025 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC..

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