PITTSBURGH — As David DeCastro’s ankle problems were taking a turn for the worse this offseason, Trai Turner’s health was trending in the right direction.

At least that’s how Turner sees it, and the 6-foot-3, 315-pound right guard from New Orleans figures to step right into a starting role for his new team. Turner, who turned 28 this month, has dealt with injury issues of his own lately but believes that after making the Pro Bowl five consecutive years from 2015-19, he still has plenty to offer the Steelers as DeCastro’s replacement.

“I’m feeling good. I’m just ready to come back and have a phenomenal season,” Turner told SiriusXM NFL Radio in an interview last weekend.

Turner, who signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Steelers on Friday, admits that 2020 was something of a lost year for him. Many Chargers fans believed they got a steal when they traded starting tackle Russell Okung straight-up for Turner last offseason. After all, Turner was a starter for all of his six seasons in Carolina, the team that drafted him in the third round out of LSU in 2014.

But once he got to Los Angeles, Turner couldn’t stay on the field — and the Chargers couldn’t protect their quarterback. Turner, who missed nine games over the previous three seasons with the Panthers, was sidelined for seven of his first eight games with the Chargers. He also missed parts of four games in the final eight.

The Chargers averaged just 3.8 yards per carry, third-worst in the NFL and not much better than the Steelers’ league-low 3.6 mark. They finished 17th with 34 sacks allowed, but 20 of those came in the second half of the season. The Chargers released Turner after just one season out west, saving $11.5 million in salary cap space. They also reportedly tried to trade him first, which would’ve been the second time in two years he was dealt.

“Somewhat of a surprise” is how Turner described it in March 2020 when he was traded by the Panthers, who signed him to a four-year, $45 million deal ahead of the 2017 season.

Indeed, there’s a reason Turner got that big payday four years ago. He’s a wide body known for playing nasty, exactly the type of mentality the Steelers are preaching under Adrian Klemm, the new head offensive line coach.

But Turner, whose seventh season in the league was initially slowed by a groin injury then further disrupted by head and chest injuries, must return to the player he was when healthy.