The Pittsburgh Steelers will open their preseason without the player many fans were hoping to see most.
Rookie offensive tackle Max Iheanachor, the team’s first-round pick, is out for Thursday night’s matchup with the Green Bay Packers at Acrisure Stadium because of a neck/shoulder injury. Head coach Mike McCarthy confirmed the news, and Chris Adamski of TribLIVE reported it.
Iheanachor hurt himself during Steelers training camp practice on August 6 and has already missed Saturday Night Lights at Latrobe Memorial Stadium, along with two practices after that. McCarthy said the rookie is still working back from the injury and pointed to the strength work still ahead of him.
"Yeah, I think what he accomplished yesterday tells you where he is. You know, we used the individual drills to see what he can do.
He's just working his way back. It's just like any return from injury.
There's a strength component that we are trying to get over, and there are some things we want to see him do with his pads and a helmet on.
He's making progress. I do not see him playing Thursday night, but he's getting close."
For Pittsburgh, it’s a frustrating pause for a player who had been trending in the right direction. Iheanachor only began playing American football in 2021 at the junior college level, so every rep matters as he adjusts to the jump in competition. He had been having a strong rookie camp, and the Steelers would have loved to get him as many preseason snaps as possible.
That won’t happen now. Even if McCarthy had planned to manage his workload carefully, Iheanachor is down to just two remaining exhibition games to get live reps before the regular season starts in September. Those chances matter in his battle with Dylan Cook for the starting right tackle job.
The timing is especially tough because Pittsburgh used significant draft capital to bring him in during the 2026 NFL Draft, and the expectation is that he’ll eventually take over the starting role. For now, though, he’s simply trying to get healthy and get back on the practice field, with August 15 circled as the team’s first practice after Thursday’s preseason opener.
The Steelers’ second preseason game comes Friday, August 21, against the New York Jets at Acrisure Stadium, and Pittsburgh will be hoping Iheanachor is ready to go by then.
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