Mike Tomlin said today that Troy Polamalu passed all of his concussion tests and will be ready to practice Wednesday in preparation to face Arizona on Sunday.
Polamalu sat out part of the fourth quarter of last Sunday's win against Jacksonville after getting a knee in the head while tackling Maurice Jones-Drew.
In other news, guard Chris Kemoeatu, linebacker Jason Worilds and Marcus Gilbert are expected to return to the lineup.
Tomlin said he will make a decision later this week about whether it will be Worilds or Lawrence Timmons at outside linebacker in place of James Harrison.
Harrison remains out, as do Aaron Smith and Casey Hampton.
Doug Legursky will also be out several weeks after suffering a dislocated toe against the Jaguars.
Chris Hoke will likely be back this week to replace Hampton. Hoke suffered a stinger in the first half against Jacksonville and did not return to the game.
14 comments:
I assume you mean Hoke will replace Hampton and not Kemo? Though if Hoke could play both sides, the O-Line sure needs depth :P
I wouldn't mind seeing if Hoke could replace Kemoeatu, I think he'd be pretty good at left guard.
i would love to see big snack come in on goaline situations as a fullback and blow somebody up!
How long will Hampton be out before we start speculating that a coach's decision scenario is in effect? Is he really that hurt?
or does the coaching staff see what many of us see: Hoke has flat outplayed Casey this year.
I think Hoke has an excellent future on our offensive line.
Henry,
Hampton is not Bryant McFadden. If he can play, he should play. Especially at a position where you can easily rotate guys in. And especially when you need a backup, and sometimes both guys at the same time.
Unless you're suggesting McLendon is better than Hampton, too?
Marc,
I read Casey was lead fullback in a goalline drill a few years ago, and got destroyed by Clint Kriewaldt (not exactly James Harrison). So I think that won't happen. Harrison, though, is someone I'd love to see do that. Seems like something he'd enjoy.
I bet Hokie would have made a good offensive lineman too!
Hoke is a good backup for Casey Hampton but if he is asked to start for too long he would probably start to wear down.
We need Casey back when he can play.
My bad. Typo to get it up quickly.
I talked to Hampton after the Houston game and he couldn't raise his arm up to put his shirt on. It's no fake injury.
I can't imagine Mike Tomlin would make excuses for keeping Hampton out of a game. He's never been shy about any players skill level. To the contrary he's run them until the wheels fall off and then he moves on. Thats the way the game is played in the NFL. Hoke has played well and he's a proven commodity but he's not the immovable object that Hampton is. You can bet that Hampton will be back in the starting lineup as soon as he's able.
I am curious to see how long both Casey and Legursky will be out for.
I would expect Casey to return next week - though who knows how much he'll play against New England since they likely won't play a lot of base.
I'd expect Legursky to be out until after Baltimore.
Dale, is there any chance that Ziggy would start or see significant time at the nose if Hoke and Hampton can't go? I think Keisel, Hood, and Hayward would be a pretty good d-line. Hayward has shown that he can really be a dominant player. I don't think McClendon is as good.
Chris Hoke's status could be one of the biggest X-Factors going into the game.
I have thought that Steve McLendon has looked good in the time he has been on the field.
Remember, he got plenty of snaps in '10 vs. Tennessee when Hampton was out and the defense shut down Chris Johnson.
But it seemed like Jacksonville ran the ball much better with McLendon in there -- that was just a gut feeling and a quick look at the stat sheet, don't have time to review the tape.
Jacksonville had a lot of success running at Timmons and Keisel. They were getting moved around a lot.
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