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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Breaking New Tuesday

The Steelers have suspended running back Rashard Mendenhall for one game for conduct detrimental to the team after he failed to show up for last Sunday's 34-24 loss to San Diego after being told he would not be active.

Though Mendenhall's future with the Steelers was highly in doubt, there was a chance the team might re-sign him as a free agent following this season if he didn't draw a lot of interest elsewhere.

That is likely out the window.

The Steelers activated running back Baron Batch from their practice squad to fill Mendenhall's roster spot this week.

@ Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that guard Willie Colon had surgery Monday to repair his injured left knee.

The Steelers have not yet placed Colon on the disabled list. They are waiting for the swelling to go down in order to see the severity of the injury and length of recovery time.

As expected, with Colon out, the Steelers are going to take a look at moving Ramon Foster to left guard and inserting rookie David DeCastro at right guard.

DeCastro wasn't quite ready a couple of weeks ago when he was activated from injured reserve, but has built up some strength in his knee, which he injured in the team's third preseason game.

@ Colon's injury wasn't the only big one announced by Tomlin Tuesday.

Corner Cortez Allen, who started in place of Ike Taylor last week, has a hip flexor injury, as does fellow starter Keenan Lewis.

Allen's injury is more serious than the one to Lewis, though both will be limited in practice early in the week.

Lewis is expected to play Sunday, while the Steelers are unsure about Allen.

That could leave Curtis Brown, Josh Victorian and DeMarcus Van Dyke playing bigger roles in Dallas this weekend.

@ I spoke with Taylor after Sundays loss to San Diego. He's planning on trying to come back against Cincinnati, but that might be pushing things.

@ Tomlin said he has no plans to change the running back rotation, meaning Rashard Mendenhall will continue to be inactive.

29 comments:

Dan said...

The injuries are unreal. We get Troy back just in time to lose all of our CBs. Seems about right for this year.

Any insight into why Mendenhall is so far in the dog house? He had a bad game in Cleveland, but the running game could use a spark.

Dale Lolley said...

I guess two fumbles in four carries is hard to ignore

Dan said...

True, but Mendenhall wasn't always chronic fumbler. Even his famous Super Bowl fumble wasn't really his fault- he was hit the second he got the ball. Plus, Redman has had somewhat of a fumble problem this year as well, yet he hasn't been exiled to the bench.

Anonymous said...

let us not forget how often mendenhall has been criticized for carrying the ball so low and far away from his body. this very well may be a situation where the coaches have tried to get him to carry the ball better and he just won't do it. under that scenario, you better believe an uncoachable player will stay in the doghouse. i'm just speculating, but that makes sense to me.

also, i believe redman can play special teams.

hopefully, bryant for dallas will be out with his broken finger. that would help.

DD said...

I am certainly not Mendenhall's #1 fan or even a fan at all. But to not have a 1st rd pick active when his replacements have been terrible is just pure ignorance. I can see one game to send a message. Past that, it's dumb. His reason being that Mendy doesn't play special teams. Well, our special teams are terrible anyway coverage wise and penalty wise. What's the difference???

Anonymous said...

Mendenhall is unable to unleash hell, thats why he sits

Anonymous said...

it just seems to me the thing with mendenhall goes beyond what we see on the field.

FreeNFLjersey said...

I wish Ponder would get Hurt.... Tired of seen him play lol Want a Free jersey click on my name

Mark said...

Not just Mendenhall (ie. beyond what we see on the field).

We keep hearing how the team expects the next player in line to perform up to the standard, but the back-ups rarely sniff the field, no matter how gassed or how poorly the starters are doing. Only injuries seem to force their hand.

Eric T said...

Looks like yo are on to something Marc, Mendenhall was suspended a game.

Patrick said...

what kind of player doesn't show up for a game when hes been benched? Did he think that would get him back on the field? That 2008 draft class just went down as the worst in team history.

I really did not enjoy Tomlin's comment about the game "looking bleak" as his reason for not going for 2. I'm beating a dead horse, I know, but the game looking bleak is exactly why you got for 2. You need those two points and there is absolutely no downside to not getting it. But he had an excuse - he didn't want to put his two point plays on his film. That is just stupid.

Also, kyle, since you had a post for me about Tomlin v. Cowher and playing down to teams. Here is an article comparing their, and other respected coaches, records against "losing teams" (under .500 that season):

http://communityvoices.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/sports/bob-smiziks-blog/35186-tomlins-record-against-losing-teams-well-below-the-norm-

I'm sorry someone changed the criteria here, I know you would prefer their stats against "nonplayoff teams."

Dale Lolley said...

The home crowd thought it looked bleak long before that. The place cleared out with 10 minutes to play.

Anonymous said...

i wonder if this attitude/behavior by mendenhall is something new this season, or has been building over time.

ughhh, just a mess of a season.

Anonymous said...

The end is near.

Patrick said...

Dale, no offense, I don't see the relation to the crowd leaving, his not going for 2, and more importantly, his bumbled explanation of it.

Its a messy season, but if a genie were to tell you the Steelers will get in as a 6th seed and win 2 playoffs game, would you be shocked? The talent is there.

I don't think Tomlin has ever liked Mendenhall for whatever reason. (I'm not knocking Tomlin here)

Zipposteelers said...

Cowhers team is just about over..The first Steelers coach to be impeached for holding plays in his pocket instead of putting the team in a position to win..
I hope the Rooney's called a meeting after this idiot announced he has limited plays to go for two points?? even madden football has more.
Todd Haley can't design more than two plays?
Tomlin is not a good fit for a blue collar team that deals with thuggs and spewis twice a year..we need a motivator of men.
Cowher had the team fired up to play(excluding lame duck year) and got more from less talent.

Anonymous said...

I dunno, I think Cowher had more talent than Tomlin. The only thing Tomlin has is a more experienced Ben. But Ben has proven he isn't talented enough to carry the team.


Is it me or has our offense been terribly inconsistent since we stopped have a potent running game years ago?

joe said...

while mendy obviously didn't pick the most adult way to deal with not getting a hat for two weeks. this is created from tomlin's wrong decision to not give him a hat two weeks in a row. much like tomlin was mistaken in his judgement of starks' play he screwed up here again.

i'm not claiming tomlin should be fired, before anyone starts that baloney. i want him to get better, just like i want to see wallace fight for more catches, dwyer get some conditioning, and the defense get more turnovers.

Anonymous Brian said...

Sorry to keep whaling on the horse, but not going for two is terrible. His stated reasoning for it is even worse. "Keeping the 2-pt plays in your pocket" is nonsense -- even if true, just run a non-super-secret 2-pt play. Also if things look bleak why is Ben, etc. still in the game? Complete BS. Tomlin was frustrated and gave up. Even though it 's very unlikely it would have mattered, it's still disheartening.

And I think Tomlin was obviously a great hire.

Also, he went for two in the SECOND QUARTER against the Bengals, which I absolutely cannot stand, even though they converted. At least it wasn't from the 12-yd line.

Anonymous said...

i think tomlin is overall a good coach. but, his logic sometimes is hard to swallow.

the 2008 draft class is beyond disappointing. while you can't say mendenhall is a bust (two 1,000 yard seasons), he was the last saving grace for that class.

however, these things ebb and flow. for instance, the 2010 draft class is looking pretty good.

Steve-O said...

If the Steelers are upset with Mendenhall and want to suspend players for not showing up they should be consistent and suspend the dozen or so others who also failed to show up that day as well.

joe said...

^ lol i think a bunch of us were thinking the same thing....but they might have to forfeit this weeks game for not having enough players and coaches !

TarheelFlyer said...

You know, the reinvention of Cowher around here just makes me laugh. I mean Cowher ALWAYS had his guys fired up to play. Just a couple of points there.

1. Go back and look at 1999 and 2003 when this team when 6-10. Yep they were fired up. He had 3 straight years which were blah. 7-9, 6-10, 9-7. So from this logic alone, he didn't always have guys fired up and ready to go.

2. Inn 15 years as the Steeler had coach, Cowher went to the AFC championship game 6 times. He lost 4 of those, 3 at home, against teams we should have been able to beat on our field. If you have your team ready, that shouldn't be a problem.

Don't misunderstand me, I loved Cowher, but to say that he didn't make coaching mistakes or get too conservative at times or get guys who lost focus, just isn't reality.

DD said...

Definitely goes to show you how unintelligent Medenhall is. He had to know he would be suspeneded for not showing up. And if I am not mistaken, knowing that he had to know that the Steelers therefore do not have to pay him for the game he is suspeneded. So he just threw away 1/16th of his salary for being a baby. Good call 34. And good luck next year in Arizona......

Anonymous said...

Mendenhall is a Bengal

Zipposteelers said...

So tomlin is a better coach than Cowher? ridiculous. anyone think Cowher would have stood on the sideline like a statue and let any defensive player get off the field without some lecture, he would grab a jersey and let players know they were stinking up the place and losing the game for us. kiesel and the few veterans left are trying to tell the team to play lights out..I
Tomlin sucks as a Steelers coach, We had/have a SB team and he was the george siefert. He cannot manage to fire up a steelers team , he is not getting them ready to play..bottom line..all you supporters will realize this after the last of cowhers players are gone.
cowher had less talent and the Steelers were more frugal when he was coaching, and he had Kordell.
I miss the days of "no more than three yards" defensive mantra and they backed it up..

Anonymous said...

to try and be fair here,

cowher had better o-lineman (some will be in the hall of fame), hall of fame RB, better d-linemen, equal LB's and better DB's...imo.

tomlin has better QB, better WR's, including TE, equal LB's...and that's about it.

two different style coaches, both have been successful. i remember seeing cowher teams that came out flat, just as with tomlin. and i remember seeing cowher teams all pumped up, just as with tomlin. i also remember cowher getting thoroughly outcoached in several AFC championship games...just as tomlin will be outcoached at times as well.

and when cowher went the playoffs his first six seasons, i don't remember everyone saying that was Noll's team. mind you, after the first six seasons "cowher's team" missed the playoffs three years in a row. should they have fired him then?

keep your faith in the rooneys. they know what they're doing better than just about everyone else.

Dale Lolley said...

"You know, the reinvention of Cowher around here just makes me laugh. I mean Cowher ALWAYS had his guys fired up to play. Just a couple of points there."

Amen Tarheel. Revisionist history at work.

As for Mendenhall, he's actually very intelligent.

Whack said...

I second that... tarheel