PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Projected to be the starting tackle the last two seasons, it seems like Zach Banner is close to returning.
"I just had a really good practice," Banner said Thursday. "It's how it is the next day, the day after that, the day after that."
Injured during the first game of the season in 2020 after winning a battle with Chukwuma Okorafor, Banner suffered a season-ending knee injury. Banner listed as the starter at right tackle this year. He missed OTA and mini-camp practices and just as he appeared ready to return. Banner confirmed Thursday he had a setback in his first, the team's third, preseason game in Detroit.
Beginning the season on injured reserve, Banner has a 21-day window, which started last week, to be cleared to play or lost for the season. He continues to take steps towards returning, although it's not clear it will be this week.
"The cruel thing is if you have a knee as a receiver," Banner said. "You have something as a DB. You can work that on the field by yourself. You can only block TJ when you block TJ."
"I have to be reliable. Every single one of those 53 roster spots means something. It means someone is going to do something to contribute to the team. I will not take up one of those spots until I can actually contribute to this team or I am just hurting this team. I'm a team guy first."
Often joking around, Banner said in a very solemn tone he feels like he's letting the team down.
"I know that I am standing there with no clothes on," Banner said. "I'm not contributing from a physical standpoint. At a certain point you feel like a weapon on the shelf. I feel like that. I want to get back out there."
The 27-year-old veteran says he is being a mentor and helping where he can on the sidelines and the film room. He said his peers continue to play with heart and that's something you can't coach.
"You haven't been together for a long time," Banner said of the play of the offensive line. "Yes, we do display physicality from individual standpoints. But we have to win. Regardless of anything we are talking about right now. We have to win. Whatever that looks like, we've only felt it once."
Individually, Banner hasn't felt it at all. He just wants, and probably better said, needs to be on the field. He's got two weeks to show he's ready.
