Pittsburgh Steelers place Nate Herbig on Injured Reserve with torn rotator cuff

The Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a big loss on their offensive line as they placed Nate Herbig on injured reserve. Herbig is dealing with a torn rotator cuff, an injury he suffered last week. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin confirmed Herbig’s injury following the team’s preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills. He was working as a center before the injury.

“Nate’s got an injury that’s being continually evaluated,” Tomlin said, per ESPN. “I think he’s getting a second opinion. I want to wait for that. I’ll give you guys some information probably the next time we come together, but I was largely satisfied with the work that I saw from Zach [Frazier].”

The loss of Herbig makes way for rookie Zach Frazier to get the start center. Frazier was selected by the Steelers in the second round after spending his college days at West Virginia.

Zach’s a hard worker,” Steelers QB Justin Fields said last week. “He’s humble, doesn’t say much, but boy, he works. So glad to have him on the o-line and I mean, he’s a strong, strong boy. “He’s smart too, so it’s great to see a rookie that young, that smart controlling where the protections are going. I’ll flip a protection, and he already had done it before I’ll even do it sometimes. So just seeing that from him, knowing how smart he is, is definitely a good thing to see.”

Why the Pittsburgh Steelers will miss Nate Herbig

Herbig was the Steelers’ top reserve offensive lineman last year. He joined the team in 2023 after spending the 2022 season with the New York Jets. Herbig originally signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent out of Stanford in 2019. In his career, Herbig has played in 61 games with two starts. His most starts came in 2020 (12) when he played seven games at right guard and five at left guard for the Eagles. In 2023, Herbig played in all 17 games and started two games at right guard for the Steelers.

During his time at Stanford, Herbig played in 33 games from 2016 to 2018. He became the first true freshman to start on the offensive line since 2012 and was a two-time All-Pac-12 selection (First Team in 2017 and Second Team in 2018).