Little has been shared concerning the status of Ryan Shazier since the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker underwent spinal stabilization surgery days after suffering an injury in the Monday night contest on Dec. 4.
Shazier did, however, make an appearance at Heinz Field on Sunday and watched the Steelers game from a suite at the stadium. It was his first public appearance since being hospitalized.
"We have seen some improvement that is encouraging," Shazier's father, Vernon, said to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. "We're taking it one day at a time.
"We do not know what tomorrow holds. It's a (daily) journey we don't know. But I know God is getting the message."
Shazier's father could not share any specifics regarding his son's injury, but hinted that the situation remains critical.
"It's easy to be faithful in a storm, but we're not talking about a drizzle. We're talking about a hurricane, a category 5 (hurricane), lots of metaphors to describe it," Vernon Shazier said.
Despite the significant injury to his 25-year-old son, Vernon would not speak negatively about the game of football.
"The reality of the game is that it's a violent sport," he said. "I naturally pray for those guys going out there every game. Any day there's a football game playing, I'm praying. About whether people should play, I don't think I'm at that point to think about it."
