PITTSBURGH — If there’s one image that sums up Zach Frazier’s college career, it came on his last play as a West Virginia Mountaineer.
WVU trailed Baylor by four points in the regular-season finale and needed to drive 80 yards for the win. On the first play of the drive, receiver Hudson Clement caught a short pass and was tied up short of the sticks. Attempting to push the pile, Frazier lugged the receiver ahead for a first down. As he did, a Baylor defender rolled up on Frazier’s left leg, breaking his ankle.
Instead of laying on the turf, Frazier saved a 10-second run-off by hopping on his one healthy leg and three-limb bear crawling off the field. If there was any question about the toughness and determination Frazier would bring to the NFL, that play revealed it.
But that’s not the only good that came from the injury. As it turned out, the play that ended Frazier’s college career very well might have saved his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
On Oct. 13 in Las Vegas, Frazier’s foot once again got trapped under a pile. His ankle was sprained in two places, keeping him out of Sunday’s victory over the New York Jets. All things considered, that was good news for an injury that looked like it could have been much worse.
Frazier told The Athletic that Dr. James Bradley, the team’s orthopedic surgeon, said if it wasn’t for the plate in his ankle from the college injury, he easily could have broken a bone and ended his season. In that way, the old college injury (and subsequent surgery) now feels like a blessing in disguise.
Last week, Frazier was in a walking boot and moving around on a scooter. He’s already out of the boot and pushing to play sooner than later.
Frazier did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday, and coach Mike Tomlin said he doesn’t expect his rookie center to be available this week when the Steelers host the New York Giants on “Monday Night Football.” However, Frazier is improving and hopeful that he’ll be able to play as soon as Week 10, after the Steelers’ Week 9 bye.
He can thank the plate in his ankle for that.
The Steelers drafted Frazier, 23, in the second round in April, and he opened the season as the starting center after veteran Nate Herbig was lost with a season-ending shoulder injury in August.
On an offensive line hit hard by injuries and forced to deal with many moving pieces, Frazier has been a consistent force in the middle. He has allowed no sacks and only four pressures on 189 pass-blocking snaps and has drawn Pro Football Focus’ fourth-highest grade among all NFL centers.
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(Photo: Candice Ward / Getty Images)
