Headed into 2020, only twice since making his NFL regular-season debut had David DeCastro suffered an injury that forced him to miss a game.
DeCastro matched that through the first five games of this season, when separate knee and abdominal injuries prevented him from playing in three of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first five games.
But DeCastro was back at his familiar right guard spot Sunday in Nashville, and he reported no wear and tear the day after the Steelers’ 27-24 victory against the previously unbeaten Tennessee Titans.
“I hadn’t dealt with injuries too much in the past,” DeCastro said during a video conference call with media Monday. “This year has kind of been weird having the knee injury in training camp and coming back feeling good and getting the oblique thing. You definitely appreciate it more when you’re on the sidelines, for sure, how much you miss it, playing with the guys.
“You are really thankful when you’re healthy, because you look around the league every year there are tons of guys getting hurt, so you are just appreciative and work hard to maintain that.”
DeCastro’s ninth NFL season is his first in his 30s. Though a significant knee injury delayed his NFL debut until Week 14 of his 2012 rookie season, only an ankle injury in 2013 (one game) and a broken hand in 2018 (two games) had caused any fully missed games since.
Veteran Stefen Wisniewski started this season’s opener in DeCastro’s place. Rookie Kevin Dotson started the Week 2 and Week 6 victories in his stead.
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