Stapleton Set to Return to the Playing Field Next Week

Good news on the O-line, as Darnell Stapleton will be back next week according to the Post-Gazette:

Darnell Stapleton, the starting right guard last season who lost his position to Trai Essex in the aftermath of an Aug. 7 arthroscopy on his left knee, aims to return to practice as early as next week. That would put him roughly in the middle of the two- to four-week recovery timetable which coach Mike Tomlin initially estimated.

“I’m hoping to get back before the end of training camp,” Stapleton said of a camp that ends next Thursday at Carolina, the last exhibition before the Steelers’ Sept. 10 regular-season opener. “But I would like to be back as soon as possible.” Stapleton, who practiced basically two days in Latrobe before the swollen knee pinned him to the sidelines, said he’s doing “annoying, strengthening” rehabilitation at the moment. “It’s not frustrating. A little disappointment,” he said. “I can’t get down. Things happen like this. People get hurt all the time.”