Offensive line woes pile up
Team inks veteran to provide depth
The Steelers, already hit hard by the injury bug late this season, will be dealing with a few more in the days leading up to their game Monday night in Cincinnati.
In addition to left guard Matt Feiler being placed on injured reserve for the remainder of the regular season, coach Mike Tomlin said four other starters will be limited early this week, and he won’t know their availability for the game until later stages of preparation.
Rookie offensive lineman Kevin Dotson has a shoulder injury that occurred during the loss in Buffalo on Sunday night. He left the game and did not return. Tomlin said the extra day of preparation due to the Bengals game being played on Monday night potentially could help Dotson and others return. J.C. Hassenauer finished the game at left guard after Feiler and Dotson were injured.
Right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor is dealing with an ankle injury. He left the game for a short time against the Bills, but returned to finish. Running back James Conner injured his quad and only played 23 snaps against the Bills. He was, by far, the least effective of the three running backs who received carries against the Bills, finishing with 18 yards on 10 carries.
Also, starting strong safety Terrell Edmunds, who has yet to miss a game since being drafted in 2018, has a shoulder injury. He played all 75 defensive snaps against the Bills.
The one piece of good injury news is the likely return of cornerback Joe Haden, who missed the Bills game with a concussion.
The Steelers can clinch the AFC North division title with a victory against the Bengals.
Line depth on the way
With Feiler on injured reserve and Dotson’s availability uncertain this week, the Steelers signed veteran Danny Isidora off the Chiefs’ practice squad.
Isidora, a fifth-round pick of the Vikings in 2017, has played in 25 career games over his four-year career. After playing in 21 games for the Vikings, including three starts over his first two seasons, he was traded in 2019 to Miami, where he started three games last season.
The Dolphins released Isidora earlier this season, and the Chiefs signed him to their practice squad. Isidora must go through COVID protocols this week before being allowed to practice.
The Steelers decided against elevating Derwin
Gray from the practice squad to the active roster. Gray, a seventh-round pick out of Maryland in 2019, has dressed for four games this season.
Protection no issue
There has been plenty of speculation about why the Steelers’ deep and intermediate passing game is in a slump, but Tomlin made clear he does not believe the offensive line is the reason for those woes. The Steelers have gone to a short passing game with Ben Roethlisberger getting the ball out of his hand quicker than any other quarterback in the NFL.
But it’s not because the coaches believe the line is incapable of protecting Roethlisberger for longer than a couple of seconds.
“I don’t have any concern whatsoever about our offensive line’s ability to protect for Ben,” Tomlin said. “Whether it’s short passing or intermediate passing or down-the-field passing, pass protection has been an asset to us.”
Fine with Smith-Schuster
Tomlin said he didn’t become aware of JuJu SmithSchuster dancing on Buffalo’s logo before the game until a reporter questioned him about it on Tuesday, but he didn’t appear angered by Smith-Schuster’s actions, nor did he give any inclination that he’ll ask him to stop such antics.
Smith-Schuster did something similar before the game in Dallas last month.
“You know, these are professional players,” Tomlin said. “These guys are motivated each and every week. Sometimes they say things in an effort to provide a vision of motivation and things of that nature. I doubt, knowing the group that coaches that team, Sean McDermott, I’m sure they were motivated in all the proper ways and that had very little relevance in how that game was played.”
A few Bills players mentioned Smith-Schuster’s antics after the game and said it motivated them.