Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier is continuing to improve as he recovers from a severe spinal injury suffered on the field on December 4, 2017.
Shazier is making “amazing progress,” Steelers owner Art Rooney II said.
“Almost every week, he’s doing something he wasn’t doing the week before,” Rooney said. “He’s a remarkable young man and an inspiration to everybody around here.”
Shazier’s full 2018 salary was guaranteed for injury, so he remained with the team and continued to get paid last year even though he wasn’t going to play. (The Steelers actually restructured Shazier’s contract to give him most of his money upfront early in 2018, rather than having to wait until the season started.) His contract expires in March, but Rooney said the Steelers plan to re-sign him and he will continue his rehab work with the team’s medical staff.
The 26-year-old Shazier is now jogging, after there once were fears that he would never walk again. Shazier is still holding out hope that he’ll be able to play again, and the Steelers aren’t ruling that out.
