Rookie lineman injures left knee
The Steelers had their first potentially troublesome injury of training camp when rookie guard Kevin Dotson, a fourth-round draft choice who is looked upon as a potential future starter, injured his left knee in practice and was taken from the field Tuesday.
Coach Mike Tomlin said after practice he did not know the extent of Dotson’s injury, saying he’s being “evaluated fully.”
Dotson elected not to be carted
from the practice area at Heinz Field and instead was helped off by a trainer and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, an indication of the regard with which the Steelers hold Dotson.
“He’s been there, he’s been down on the field before, he knows the fear associated with that,” Tomlin said of Roethlisberger. “Often times the fear of injury is worse than the injury. He’s just doing what thoughtful and considerate leaders do.”
Featured performer
Inside linebacker Ulysees Gilbert III, who is in line to be the top backup to Vince Williams in some pass situations, stood out with two big plays in practice.
The first came when he made an acrobatic interception of a deep pass from Paxton Lynch, taking the ball away from running back Kerrith Whyte as Whyte bobbled the throw. Several plays later, he made a diving breakup of a pass to running back Jaylen Samuels.
Gilbert is going into his second season, but it’s essentially his first as a potential contributor for the defense. As a rookie, No. 54 played in seven games but only on special teams before a seasonending back injury.
“I wouldn’t necessarily characterize him as a second-year player because he missed so much time in Year 1,” Tomlin said after practice. “Hopefully, because he’s been a part of the program and been in the building, there’s some residual benefits from it. But in terms of play, or exposure to play, he hasn’t experienced nearly as much as some of the others in his class because of injury.”
The Steelers are thin at inside linebacker, both in numbers and experience, after cutting veteran starter Mark Barron in March. It doesn’t sound as if Gilbert was eagerly checking the transaction report each day to see whom the Steelers might sign to replace Barron, but they didn’t draft a true off-ball linebacker either, so the Akron product sees what he can seize.
“I really didn’t know what to think. They made a decision for themselves, but I just look at this as an opportunity in front of me,” Gilbert said, the first player to be picked for a post-practice interview due to his play. “Whatever they want me to do, I’ll put my right foot forward.”
Quick hits
• Tuesday was a maintenance day for several veterans, according to Tomlin, including left tackle Al Villanueva, tight end Eric Ebron and cornerback Joe Haden. For the second day in a row, right guard David DeCastro was out while wide receiver James Washington was limited, but Tomlin said Monday both are day to day with minor ailments. Center Maurkice Pouncey was back after missing Monday’s practice for personal reasons, Tomlin said.
“We’ll spread it out among the veteran group,” Tomlin said of rotating the rest days. “It’s not only about the preservation of the veteran players.
“It’s probably more importantly about the accelerated maturation of the younger guys. You give Ebron a day off, you get to see more of some of the young guys at the tight end position, for example. When you give Villanueva a day off, you get to see more of the young tackles play their position.”
• At the conclusion of the live-streamed portion of practice, it appeared Chuks Okorafor and Zach Banner were starting tackles in Villanueva’s absence, with Matt Feiler and Stefen Wisniewski the first-team guards. Dax Raymond, signed in late July after he was released by Chicago, was one of the young tight ends to get more reps but also left practice early with an apparent ankle injury, Tomlin said. Raymond was on the Bears practice squad last year as a rookie.
• According to the pool report from Heinz Field, touchdowns Tuesday were scored during live action by the likes of Anthony McFarland, Ryan Switzer and Ben Roethlisberger (on a fake handoff, quarterback draw).
• Defensively, in addition to Gilbert’s performance, T.J. Watt looked like his usual self with a tackle for loss on McFarland; Terrell Edmunds had a couple of big hits on running backs; and Saeed Blacknall, who’s actually a former Penn State wide receiver signed from the XFL, caught the eye of Tomlin and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick with an impressive tackle on special teams.
• Elsewhere on the injury front in the NFL, it was a former Steeler who got some tough news Tuesday. Cornerback Artie Burns, the 2016 first-round draft pick now with Chicago, reportedly left Bears practice with a torn ACL.
Burns started one game in 2019, his final year in Pittsburgh.