OG Dotson’s knee injury ‘short term’
Several vets, including Wormley, Washington return in limited ways
A day after rookie guard Kevin Dotson was helped off Heinz Field by a trainer and Ben Roethlisberger, it sounds like his left knee injury isn’t a major one.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin characterized Dotson (and reserve tight end Dax Raymond) as “more shortterm … nothing of any significant long-term concerns.”
“No news is good news on the injury front,” Tomlin said after a Wednesday practice without pads. “Not a lot of new stuff.”
Even some Steelers who have been out of action, such as wide receiver James Washington and defensive tackle Chris Wormley, are “working their way back” by practicing in a limited capacity. The main worry after Tuesday’s practice was the health of Dotson, an affable fourth-rounder trying to compete for a backup spot on the offensive line, if not push to start at some point in his first season.
Don’t count out Raymond in the mix at tight end, either, at least not after how position coach James Daniel assessed his group Tuesday afternoon. Second-year fifthround pick Zach Gentry would seem to have the inside track for the No. 3 job, but Pine-Richland and Youngstown State product Kevin Rader spent almost all of last season on the practice squad, while Raymond was signed last month to add more polish in place of converted rugby star Christian Scotland-Williamson.
“These guys are here competing. They know. We put it out there upfront, they’re competing and we’re going to see who’s the best fit for getting done what we need done in the room,” Daniel said.
Special attention
Wednesday morning in a meeting room, Danny Smith couldn’t help but put on a cut-up of film from the previous day’s practice. He wanted to show his players just how badly his punt return team messed up this one drill Tuesday.
“I showed three blocks in the back,” the special teams coordinator said with a chuckle. “The return units are the most highly penalized, because of the space of the game and speed in the game.”
So, yeah, Smith is one assistant coach who’s truly drinking from the firehose when it comes to trying to
prepare his units for a regular season with no benefit of a preseason, or OTAs, or spring minicamp. He needs a lot of puzzle pieces to fall into place by Sept. 14 and doesn’t want to feel like mistakes are inevitable, which is why he’s emphasizing the details now — even the ones that might be ugly to watch on tape.
“I don’t expect it to be sloppy,” Smith said. “That’s the whole game of this, for it to not be sloppy, to get off on the right foot, and it’s my job to teach those things and put them in those situations.”
Quick hits
• Who says the two linemen battling for the right tackle job can’t have some fun? The fifth starter won’t be decided by a stand-up comedy routine, but at Wednesday’s practice, Chuks Okorafor rolled up his football pants to his thigh to wear them short and tight, while Zach Banner stood next to tight end Eric Ebron so he could catch some passes from the JUGS machine. Remember, Banner played all of his snaps last year as an eligible receiver.
• Roethlisberger, who was “slinging it” again at practice Wednesday according to receiver Ryan Switzer, led a two-minute drill covering 57 yards with 1:27 left that resulted in a touchdown.
• In a “hurry-up” period, Roethlisberger and backup Mason Rudolph went opposite directions. Roethlisberger was perfect on all his attempts, while Rudolph failed to complete a pass, according to the pool report from Heinz Field. Rudolph should’ve been intercepted a few times but also nearly had a pretty completion to wideout Deon Cain, only for Cain to fall down before he could make the catch.
• Thursday is a team-wide off day. The Steelers will be back at Heinz Field on Friday, likely in full pads again.