Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress has injured his shoulder and torn his right rotator cuff and will undergo surgery to repair the injury. The injury occurred in Steelers practice on Thursday as Burress landed hard on the shoulder after diving in an attempt to catch a deep pass. Burress was carted off he practice field and later seen walking around in a sling.
While the Steelers aren’t admitting anything yet, with head coach Mike Tomlin only willing to call the injury “significant”, the typical 4 to 6 month recovery time on surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff has many speculating that the season is over for the soon to be 36-year-old wide receiver. It has been previously reported that Burress was planning for the 2013 season to be his last in the NFL.
Burress was signed in the offseason to be a red-zone target for the Steelers while they wait for tight end Heath Miller to recover from off-season knee surgery. He was also intended to add depth to a receiving corps that lost Mike Wallace in free agency to the Miami Dolphins. The Steelers do have Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders as established starters, and Jerricho Cotchery as their third receiver, but have little in the way of proven NFL talent at receiver beyond those three players.
Burress played just four games in 2012 signing with the Steelers in late November. He had just three receptions, including one for a touchdown, in a limited role. In his 11 season NFL career, Burress has 553 receptions for 8499 yards, and 64 touchdowns.
It was Burress’ second stint with the Steelers, as he played for the team from 2000 to 2004 after being the 8th overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. Burress won a Superbowl with the New York Giants, and caught the game winning touchdown defeating the until-then undefeated Patriots in Superbowl XLII.
Burress missed the 2009 and 2010 NFL seasons while in prison on gun related charges after shooting himself in the leg in a New York City nightclub.
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