(Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
Steelers inside linebacker Devin Bush spoke with the media after today's OTAs practice for the first time since he suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Week 6 against the Browns. When the Steelers start training camp in late July, it will be nine months since Bush suffered his injury and he told the media that he feels 80-90 percent recovered and expects to be 100 percent by training camp.
Bush and Zach Banner, who also suffered a season-ending ACL injury last year, have been rehabbing together at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex this offseason. Bush also is going through some individual drills, but he is being held out of team parts of practice.
“I’m getting on the grass and doing reactive things,” Bush said. “They hold me out of competition just because it’s not needed right now. I’m going through my progressions, my movements and calls and just getting back to football again.”
Bush also says it was an easy decision for him to stay in Pittsburgh for his rehab.
“I thought it was a good idea to be with the guys, be with the organization,” he said. “They made a big investment in me. For them to track my progress and be with me every step of the way, they know where I’m at and where I should be.”
The last step in Bush's recovery process is to get the mental side of things down and feel confident when running and changing directions.
“It’s definitely the mental part,” Bush said. “Physically, you can recover from it and come out of it. It’s the mental part about going full speed and not thinking about it.”