Ryan Shazier held a news conference on Wednesday for the first time since he suffered a spinal injury in Week 13 of the 2017 regular season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker underwent spinal stabilization surgery on Dec. 6, 2017.

He has already been placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list, which ends his 2018 season, but Shazier made it clear he remains hopeful to continue playing.

"My dream is to come back and play football again," Shazier said. "I've been working my tail off every single day, so I have that in the back of my mind every single time I go to rehab. I just try to stay positive every day, so I'm just trying to do everything I can to get back."

Shazier pointed out there isn't a hard medical timetable on his recovery process and he is taking it "one day at a time," but he has received encouragement.