Pitt football head coach Dave Wannstedt in talking to media today said he expects Greg Romeus to return this season ... and not just for a bowl game:
↵↵↵Romeus, a pre-season All- America and the Big East co-Defensive Player of the Year, will undergo surgery Thursday on a disc in his lower back.
↵Wannstedt said he coached a pair of NFL players who underwent similar surgery and they were back in the lineup in "four to six weeks."
↵Asked whether he expects Romeus back in time for the regular season or a bowl game, the Pitt coach said, "Regular season."
↵"I have been involved with players, in fact all defensive linemen, who have had surgery and have gotten back and finished out the season," he said. "They were (out) four to six weeks."
↵Added Wannstedt, "The plan is it's not a season-ending surgery. How many games he will get back for, we will just have to take that week to week. But I am very confident when Greg gets back, he will be playing at a high level and finish up a great senior year."
↵
This is obviously pretty good news for Pitt and if this timeline applies, better than what most fans could have hoped for. If he is able to follow the six-week timeline he'd likely miss Pitt's October 30th game vs. Louisville. But the team has a bye week the following weekend before a big game at Connecticut on November 11th. More importantly, Pitt is just getting into their toughest Big East games at that point and Romeus could conceivably be back for games against Cincinnati, West Virginia, and South Florida.
↵Romeus can appeal the NCAA for a sixth-year of eligibility, but as I speculated on at Cardiac Hill yesterday, I doubt that would be the case. He's viewed as a high-round NFL Draft pick and I don't know how willing he'd be to play another year in college. Today, Paul Zeise at the Post-Gazette echoed those same thoughts.
↵Zeise also says that true freshman DE, T.J. Clemmings. can now be expected to see some action this year. He was potentially looking at a redshirt this season.
↵
Loading comments...