Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin announced a laundry list of injuries coming out of the game against the Ravens this week, the most important of which was a broken had suffered by linebacker Lawrence Timmons sometime in the third quarter.
Obviously, to steal a word from Tomlin, Timmons did not leave the game. He has been casted and will play this week. According to Tomlin, he has full use of all of the fingers on his left hand, despite the cast, and will not be limited in any way.
Tomlin also said Marcus Gilbert is still dealing with his quad injury, but that he expects him to play this week in Oakland.
Brett Keisel is still dealing with his rib issue, while Jerricho Cotchery has an abdominal strain. Cam Heyward showed up at the facility sick on Monday, but that is not expected to be an issue, either.
Rookie receiver Markus Wheaton is out again this week with a broken finger. He should be ready to return next week against New England.
@ Tomlin said the decision to release Isaac Redman and sign Kion Wilson to the active roster was based solely on special teams play. But the Steelers didn't need to continue to carry four running backs - Redman had been inactive the past three games - and the front office was unhappy that Redman lied about his concussion against Cincinnati, then went public with it, making their medical staff look bad.
@ Just an FYI, the Raiders, who are coming off a bye, are 0-10 in their last 10 games coming off a bye.
@ Rewatching the game against the Ravens gave me an even great appreciation for how dominant David DeCastro was. He was pretty much doing whatever he wanted with Haloti Ngata and company, turning them, driving them, etc.
timmons breaking his hand makes that game all the better. i hope he keeps that type of effort up the rest of the season.
ReplyDeletei thought someone mentioned ngata was playing hurt. is that true? may explain decastro's elevated level of play.
oakland = TRAP. if the steelers haven't figured that out by now then shame on them.
someone on here mentioned getting moye more involved. well, he wasn't perfect, but the guy is clearly at least a match-up problem in the red zone.
if bell gets 20+ rushes then i'm figuring the steelers will win the game.
Any word on Jarvis Jones for this coming week?
ReplyDeleteDefensive tackle Haloti Ngata (elbow), linebacker Courtney Upshaw (foot) and cornerback Lardarius Webb (thigh) are all questionable.
ReplyDeletehttp://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/10/18/week-seven-injury-report-roundup-2/
Don't know how much Ngata's elbow affected his play, but I hope that DeCastro is progressing.
"someone on here mentioned getting moye more involved. well, he wasn't perfect, but the guy is clearly at least a match-up problem in the red zone."
ReplyDeleteThat was me. Even with his drop, I am still a strong advocate for Moye. It's nice to have a 6' 5" receiver who is willing and able to make a backflip catch. I thought his neck was going to be broken after that one.
Sanders is probably gone after this year- the Steelers need to see whether Moye is the real deal.
Jones should be back this week.
ReplyDeleteDeCastro has been playing well since the opener, so it's nothing new. Don't care whether Ngata was "hurt" or not. He played the most snaps of any Baltimore defensive lineman, so it couldn't have been that bad.
Think about it, if you injure your elbow, you lose arm strength, so DeCastro may have been playing against a one armed man. The fact that Ngata had the most snaps of the DL has no bearing, this is the NFL. Timmons has a broken hand, finished the Balt game and is playing with a cast. Think Ronnie Lott and his pinky, these guys are way tougher than us mere humans.
ReplyDeleteBTW, kudos to Suisham, he deserves the honor and has been steady as a rock through this season.
have to agree. decastro may be playing well...or better...but going up against a defensive linemen who can't get as much push from one side is a clear advantage.
ReplyDeletealso nice that you don't hear much about velasco. means he is doing his job. does he even have a penalty this season? if he is actually playing well and keeps it up, steelers will be hard pressed not to keep him around.
Why is everyone reluctant to say Decastro played well? A lot of NFL players are hurt, no one cares and expects them to play at a top level, why make this exception with Ngata?
ReplyDeletejust want to stay realistic. if a guy looks good against an injured player, do you then expect him to play that well the next week?
ReplyDeleteit's about setting your expectations. if he played as well as dale says he did against a healthy ngata, then yes, i'd be excited about that. but not against a guy who is injured and had a high probability of missing the game because of that injury.
of course i am hoping he continues to play well. but i won't be convinced in his abilities until he shows it consistently and consistently against very good players.
A lot of DeCastro's snaps came against Arthur Jones who was not on the injury report. He wrecked Arthur Jones on several plays, taking him completely out of the play. Jones is the brother of Chandler Jones from the Patriots and Jon Jones from MMA and he is no slouch. I'm keeping an even head about 66 too but there's no way to deny he had an outstanding game.
ReplyDeleteYes, he's been playing well all year, game in and out, and has been their most consistent / best O-lineman.
ReplyDeleteIf DeCastro continues to play well, then the Steelers got a bargain as he was considered a top 10 pick on a number of draft boards. Part of the hesitation to anoint him as the second coming of Faneca is that he missed last year plus the Pouncey incident so the jury is still out. But it is a positive to see him playing well along with Velasco, then add in Pouncey next year and you have a strong core of interior linemen. Just need to develop the tackles and the type of Steeler football that we’re accustom to will be back.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I thought I saw Foster locked up on Ngata a few times and pushing him around.
ReplyDelete