Sean Spence To Start Sunday

The Pittsburgh Steelers finally got some good news on the injury front, as rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier isn’t expected to miss much time with an MCL sprain. He will, however, be inactive Sunday when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers come to town.

Pittsburgh brought fan favorite James Harrison out of retirement to add depth to the outside linebackers, as Jarvis Jones is expected to have wrist surgery and miss at least eight weeks. Cornerback Ike Taylor is out indefinitely with a forearm fracture.

With all this bad news piling up, there is one bright spot. Sean Spence will replace Shazier Sunday, and make his first career start after making a miraculous recovery from a grotesque knee injury.

During the 2012 preseason, Spence suffered a torn ACL, LCL, and a dislocated kneecap in a game against the Carolina Panthers. He missed all of the 2012 and 2013 seasons rehabilitating, and some feared he would never walk right again, let alone play football.

Pittsburgh kept him around, knowing that he would be an impact player if he did recover. Well, he did. After a solid preseason, Spence easily made the team and is now going to start his first career game in 2014.

While we wish all the injured players a speedy recovery, it will be an emotional and awesome moment to see Spence get his name announced with the starting unit after suffering setback after setback.

The Steelers are looking to improve to 3-1 Sunday following Thursday night’s huge win over the Carolina Panthers.