ACL recovery wrapping up, Devin Bush assures he’ll be 100% by Steelers camp

While most of his teammates ran through football drills on the two fields behind him last week, Devin Bush was relegated to doing what could described charitably as labored sprints. Flanked by fellow rehabbing Pittsburgh Steelers teammate Zach Banner, Bush dragged a weighted plate that was tied to his waist by a bungee cord and slid across the grass at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.

“I went 80 yards, and it was, like, 50 pounds,” Bush said during a video conference call with media after another organized team activities session Wednesday. “I progressed. That was my first time doing that, and I’d started doing that with no weight and progressed to the weight you saw me do. So I am on track.”

Some eight months after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee during a win against the Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field, Bush still isn’t back to 100%. Instead of running defensive formations and engaging in drills, the inside linebacker has been relegated to individual work.

“I’m about 80-90%,” Bush said. “I will be ready once camp rolls around. I’ll be 100.”

Training camp is scheduled to begin in six weeks. Bush said he has been medically cleared for full participation for that, and keeping him out of drills at OTAs and next week’s minicamp is more precautionary.

“I’ve seen a doctor, and I am out there — so I think I’m cleared,” Bush said. “If I am not, then I will be (for training camp).”

That’s good news for the Steelers, for whom Bush had played every defensive snap of the first 4 ½ games last season before he suffered the season-ending injury.

Devin Bush on why he chose to rehab his injury in Pittsburgh this offseason pic.twitter.com/3OgT5H4g1W

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) June 9, 2021

After the loss of three defensive starters, the Steelers need a healthy Bush to take the next step in a career that started when they traded up in the 2019 draft to select him at No. 10 overall.

Bush has afforded the organization a front-row seat of his months-long rehab, staying in Pittsburgh over the offseason.

“I thought it was a good idea to be with the guys, be with the organization,” Bush said. “Of course, they made a big investment on me, so for them to be able to track my progress and be able to be with me every step of the way to kind of know where I am at and where I should be (is advantageous). They can keep a sharp eye on me and make sure I can deal with this injury from here on out.”

Size aside. Zach Banner and Devin Bush have shared a common thread since the 2020 season ended.

They have been rehab partners in the Steelers’ training facility at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.https://t.co/GEfOMa0KUN

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) May 28, 2021

Even for a player who is valued for his footspeed and lateral quickness, an ACL tear isn’t the career death sentence it once was for elite athletes. Still, as the three-quarters of a year of recovery time shows, it’s far from easy.

“There’s definitely the mental part,” Bush said. “Physically, you can get over this and you can recover from it, come out of it. But it’s the mental part of getting back out there and going full speed without thinking about it.”

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