The Pittsburgh Steelers received their first real injury scare of training camp Thursday with first-round rookie Max Iheanachor leaving the field. Team insiders reported Iheanachor received evaluations on his neck/shoulder area on the sideline after departing the field and then left the sideline for the locker room.
On Friday, Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy addressed Iheanachor’s injury. The head coach ruled out the first-rounder practicing Friday but provided a positive update overall.
“He won’t go today,” said McCarthy. I think we might not see him until Monday, but he’s Ok.”
The Steelers selected Iheanachor at No. 21 overall in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. The team listed the rookie as the offense’s RT2 on its first depth chart this week.
McCarthy, though, noted to reporters that the first depth chart means little. A lot of pundits see Iheanachor starting as a rookie at right tackle this fall.
Steelers Get Positive Injury Update on RT Max Iheanachor
GettyPittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy shared first-round pick Max Iheanachor doesn’t have a serious injury.
Iheanachor isn’t completely alright. Otherwise, he would be able to practice right away again.
But if Iheanachor returns Monday, Steelers Nation should take it. One of the last things the organization needed was for another first-round pick to suffer a long-term injury.
Last year, Derrick Harmon sustained a knee ailment in the preseason finale. That sidelined him for the first two games of the 2025 regular season.
In 2024, first-round pick Troy Fautanu also missed Week 1. Fautanu returned for Week 2 but then suffered a season-ending injury in practice before the next game.
Pittsburgh’s 2023 first-rounder Broderick Jones was healthy as a rookie. But last season, Jones missed the end of the campaign because of a neck injury.
Unlike Harmon and Fautanu, Iheanachor isn’t guaranteed to start when he makes his NFL regular season debut. But that’s all the more reason why Iheanachor can’t afford to miss any snaps at training camp. He needs the work for his development.
Iheanachor was the sixth offensive tackle off the board in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Steelers cleared a path for him to compete at right tackle this summer by flipping Fautanu to left tackle.
Jones could have a reserve role coming off an offseason with neck surgery. Jones, though, is a candidate to move back to right tackle if Iheanachor is sidelined longer than expected.
Iheanachor Competing With Dylan Cook at Right Tackle
GettyTroy Fautanu and Dylan Cook could start at left and right tackle, respectively, for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season.
It’s possible the Steelers don’t start two of their three first-round tackles since 2023. Fautanu will anchor left tackle, but Dylan Cook has a chance to start at right tackle ahead of both other former first-rounders.
Cook had never played in the NFL before December last year. But Jones’ injury, along with multiple other ailments to left tackles, pushed Cook not only onto the active roster but onto the field in Week 14.
Cook played well as an injury replacement versus the Baltimore Ravens that week. He then started the following game versus the Miami Dolphins.
Starting five straight contests to end the season, including the playoffs, Cook played well. He held his own despite facing Myles Garrett and the Cleveland Browns and then the tough Houston Texans defense in the postseason.
It was too small of a sample for the Steelers not to take Iheanachor in the first round. But Cook remains with the team and could start at right tackle to begin the 2026 campaign.
Cook played college football at Montana. He began his NFL career as an undrafted free agent for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2022. Cook spent almost four years in the league, and nearly three with the Steelers, before finally getting his opportunity.
This year, he entered training camp as a shoe-in for a roster spot and a candidate to compete for a starting job.
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