Wounded Steelers have little time to heal this week
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
INDIANAPOLIS — Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said cornerback Joe Haden has a fractured fibula in his left leg, but it does not appear the injury will be season-ending.
Haden was on crutches in the locker room after the game. He said he was going to go see the doctor for further evaluation immediately upon returning to Pittsburgh Sunday night.
“We’re going back and going straight from the airport to the doctor to see what’s up,” Haden said. Is he concerned? “A little bit. I wasn’t able to come back right away today.”
Dr. David Chao, a former team doctor for the Chargers who now writes about injuries for the San Diego Tribune, said Haden could be out for as little as 4-6 weeks.
“There are two bones in the lower leg,” Chao wrote. “The tibia is the primary bone for weight bearing and support. The fibula, especially where Haden was hit, is not structural. Thus, there will be no requirement for a cast.
“It is doubtful [will have] surgery, because the fracture is in a location that is not important for weight bearing. As such he could have a return this season. The worst case is [injured reserve] and return for playoffs.”
The Steelers, who improved to 7-2 with their 20-17 victory against the Colts, have seven games remaining.
“We’re going to miss him but we got other guys to step in for the job, next man up,” cornerback Artie Burns said. “While he’s recovering we got other guys to step in and do the job.
He’ll definitely be back. What can you say? He’ll be out for like a couple of weeks or so, a few weeks or something like that.”
More injuries
Safety Mike Mitchell, receiver Darrius HeywardBey and tight end Vance McDonald also were injured in the game. Mitchell left the game early in the third quarter with an ankle injury and did not return. Heyward-Bey and McDonald were able to come back and play in the game.
The Steelers don’t have much time to lick their wounds. They play the Tennessee Titans Thursday night at Heinz Field.
“We’ll assess it and assess it quickly,” Tomlin said. “Obviously, we’re working on a short week. Those who limped out of the stadium probably don’t have much of a chance.”
2-point negligence
The Steelers got a big 2point conversion when Ben Roethlisberger completed a pass to Martavis Bryant in the end zone, but it came after some confusion on the sidelines forced the Steelers to burn a timeout and get a delay of game penalty.
Roethlisberger was forced to call a timeout after his touchdown pass to McDonald with 11:52 remaining. He went to the sideline and talked with the coaches. However, once the Steelers returned to the field Roethlisberger was called for delay of game because the Steelers did not have the right personnel on the field.
Instead of the 2-point try coming from the 2-yard line, Roethlisberger threw to Bryant from 7 yards out.
“We couldn’t get lined up,” Tomlin said. “We had a specialty play called and just negligence. I accept responsibility for that. We couldn’t get lined up even after the timeout. Some of those specialty plays, 2-point plays and stuff, are somewhat obscure. We didn’t get it done.”
According to Roethlisberger, he heard offensive coordinator Todd Haley call for the kicking team to boot the 1-point try, but Tomlin overruled him and decided to keep the offense on the field for the 2-point try.
“I didn’t take the timeout the second time because I was figuring the same thing … ‘let’s take the penalty here and give us some more room, and we called a play and made it happen.”
The Steelers hadn’t practiced the play very much.
“It’s kind of a new play that we put in, new formation, guys in all different places and we just couldn’t get in the proper location,” Roethlisberger said. “We were trying to run some motions and Martavis [Bryant] was on the backside and not even on the ball. … And it’s not on him. I’m just saying one of the times. And then another tme we had too many guys off. You know, just some messed up things so we just took the timeout and then took the delay on the second one.”
Vince Williams ‘robbed’
An earlier turning point in the game might have come when Vince Williams ripped the ball away from Frank Gore in Indianapolis territory while trailing 17-9 in the third quarter.
Instead, the officials ruled after huddling that Gore’s forward progress had stopped even though no whistle blew until after Williams had the ball. Tomlin wanted to challenge it, but rules stipulate that down by forward progress cannot be challenged.
Williams said it was “absolutely” a fumble.
“I went in with the intention of ripping the ball out,” said the inside linebacker, whose fifth sack ties him for the team lead. “I popped the ball out before his knee touched the ground. I got robbed. There was no whistle.”
This ‘n’ that
Roethlisberger executed his 40th fourth-quarter comeback of his career. The Steelers trailed 17-9 entering the fourth quarter before Roethlisberger threw a touchdown pass to Vance McDonald, a 2-point conversion pass to Martavis Bryant and then completed all four of his passes on the final drive to set up Chris Boswell’s winning field goal. … Defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who missed four games in the first half of the season, picked up his first sack. … Inside linebacker Vince Williams picked up his fifth sack and is now tied for the team lead. … The Steelers are 22 for 35 on twopoint conversion tries under Tomlin. … McDonald caught his first touchdown with the Steelers and the eighth of his career. … Rookie receiver JuJu SmithSchuster has caught touchdowns in three consecutive games and in four of his past six. … The Steelers did not allow the Colts to score a touchdown on their opening possession. It was the 26th consecutive game the Steelers did not allow their opponent to score a touchdown on their first possession.
Inactives
The Steelers deactivated linebacker James Harrison, quarterback Josh Dobbs, offensive linemen Matt Feiler and Jerald Hawkins, defensive lineman Daniel McCullers, cornerback Brian Allen and receiver Justin Hunter.
The Colts deactivated receiver Kamar Aiken, running back Matt Jones, cornerback D.J. White, linebacker John Simon, offensive linemen Tyreek Burwell and Isaiah Williams and defensive lineman Le’Raven Clark.