From the sound of things, Mike Tomlin expects Emmanuel Sanders to be available when the Steelers travel to Kansas City this weekend.
Sanders has been out of action a couple of weeks following the death of his mother and having his knee scoped.
What that means for Hines Ward remains to be seen. Tomlin said the team hasn't come up with its complete game plan yet for the Chiefs and decided on what role, if any, Ward will play.
One thing that likely won't happen is Ward being a healthy scratch. No. 6 receiver Arnaz Battle, a special teams ace, is still dealing with a hamstring injury and won't play this week.
But what happens when Battle is healthy is anyone's guess.
© Linebacker LaMarr Woodley is continuing to work his way back from a hamstring injury. Tomlin said he'll continue to be limited in practice for now. But he's been less limited of late than he was a couple of weeks ago - when limited meant he did some work with trainers.
© Tomlin said there are a couple of reasons for Cameron Heyward's lack of playing time against the Bengals.
Tomlin doesn't want to take Brett Keisel and Ziggy Hood off the field – "they are highly conditioned athletes" – and the Steelers have been playing more sub packages that use only two defensive linemen.
9 comments:
don't rush woodley back. should have no problem with the chiefs. must beat the bengals a second time.
Dale, is there any evidence that Ward is underperforming? He still seems to be the only receiver who can scoop in those low throws. I wonder if he is getting thrown around in his blocking scheme?
It's not the blocking. It's the getting open problem
Yeah, he's just not getting the same separation he once did.
See Donald Driver and Derrick Mason.
Father time has caught up albeit not to the same alarming degree it has with Aaron Smith.
I always thought Ward's decline would be this sudden. Never been a guy with speed, once he lost his amazing separation skills it's just too difficult to keep playing
hope he gets the 1000 catch
Sad, sad day coming upon us when Hines no longer has a place in the gameplan... but I'm sure once he retires that would have to free up a considerable amount of cap room to use towards re-signing Wallace or even Brown. Bittersweet end to an OUTSTANDING career. We salute you, Hines.
We'll see what happens. You just never know how things will play out with injuries and such.
The other thing being overlooked is the fact that Heath Miller has taken over many of the shorter routes over the middle Ward used to run.
It is a sad day, but it is just time. Heath has been the go to man on the shorter routes and with the emerging J Cotchery as a possession receiver and the young studs we have at WR, there is just not a place for an aging WR who can not get separation, Tomlin is making the right decision, a hard one, but the right one.
We need to rest Woodley if he needs it, we will need him for the push through the playoffs, and once again I trust the coaches to do the right thing here.
i wish kirkland, blount, ham and lambert where still on the field and it will be odd to not see smith and ward on the team after so many years of a high level of play. but it is good to see they have able replacements for them.
a topic you touched on in a previous blog came up at work yesterday during some football smack talk. the catches or not catches and the fineable-not fineable hits along with the bear player threatened with ejection for orange spikes has taken much of the passion out of fans who root for any team. the inconsistent calls are maddening to most
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