Pittsburgh Steelers guard David DeCastro isn’t certain when he’ll be cleared to return from a broken right hand.
DeCastro saw his streak of 72 straight starts end after he sustained the injury in the team’s season-opening tie against the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 9. The former Pro Bowl selection was able to finish the game but did not practice last week while wearing a wrap on his hand.
“I think it’s one of those things where they don’t tell you (the timetable) on purpose so I can just keep hoping that I’m going to play and trick myself into (thinking I’m) playing,” the 28-year-old DeCastro said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “They never told me it’s going to be three weeks, it’s going to be one week, it’s going to be 10 weeks.
“It’s one of those things where you just try to do everything in your best power that day to heal it and you see where you are the next day and see if you can play. Ultimately, if I can do it, I’ll go. If I can’t, I can’t.”
B.J. Finney replaced the 6-foot-5, 316-pound DeCastro in the lineup and played 84 snaps in Sunday’s 42-37 setback to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Steelers (0-1-1) will vie for their first win on Monday night (8:15 p.m. ET) against the unbeaten Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-0) at Raymond James Stadium.
