Pittsburgh Steelers rookie guard David DeCastro has torn the medial collateral ligament in his right knee, but he hasn't torn the anterior cruciate ligament as originally suspected, a source with knowledge of his condition confirmed Sunday.
While the source originally said Sunday that DeCastro had torn his right ACL, the source clarified later that the 2012 first-round draft pick had other, different damage in the knee, including a dislocated kneecap.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported Sunday that DeCastro suffered damage to his patellar tendon and it is unknown if he will be able to return this season. DeCastro could miss as much as three to five months, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com.
DeCastro suffered the injury on the Steelers' second drive of the game against Buffalo Bills in Saturday's 38-7 preseason victory.
The guard got tangled up with Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus on a pass play when his teammate, offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert, landed on the back of DeCastro's right leg.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger blamed the A-Turf brand artificial surface at Ralph Wilson Stadium for the rookie's injury.
"Well, I just saw him, (and his) spirits are high," Roethlisberger told NFL.com and NFL Network's Kimberly Jones at halftime Saturday night. "We don't obviously know -- well, I don't know what the official word is. This is a great field, but it's field turf, and it's just killing guys because they can't get their feet out of the ground, and it's just another reason we should get rid of field turf."
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