PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers placed former West St. Mary and LSU offensive lineman Jerald Hawkins on injured reserve Tuesday after he underwent surgery to repair a torn quadriceps muscle.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported the surgery on Friday.

Hawkins, 24, suffered the injury on May 30 during organized team activities. He had entered the season as the expected backup to starting tackles Alejandro Villanueva and Marcus Gilbert after playing in five games with one start in 2017.

“I saw ‘quad,’” guard Ramon Foster told Mike Prisuta of Steelers.com. “They haven’t told us exactly what it was, but that’s not good, either.”

“It’s not a good one, but we have good technology and a good (medical) staff, so he’s in good hands,” guard David DeCastro told Steelers.com. “It sucks, man, it hurts. We were just talking about how well ‘Hawk’ was playing. Football’s a brutal game, it really is. A guy like that, a young guy who’s made some good strides and got some good reps for us in the games (last season), you just feel for him. You feel for this team.”

The former three-year starter at LSU was drafted in the fourth round by the Steelers in 2016 but was placed on injured reserve that year after suffering a shoulder injury in the preseason.

The Steelers signed free agent lineman Bryce Harris to take his roster spot on Tuesday. Rookie Chuckwuma Okorafor also is expected to vie for time as a backup to Villaneuva.

Hawkins played in 37 games in three years at LSU, starting in each game.

In high school Hawkins started for three years on offense and defense, not allowing a sack as a senior. He also played basketball and baseball and won the 2011 Class 2A shot put title for the Wolfpack.