Talking Steelers-Roethlisberger

The NFL Network is trying to generate ratings on the backs of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Twice in the past five days the network's "insiders" have released stories revolving around Ben Roethlisberger and have even added a dash of Mike Tomlin in there as well.

I don't doubt for a second that Ian Rapoport and Michael Silver have some sources. But I don't think either of them have strong sources within the Steelers organization.

There are certain national reporters who, when they say something about the Steelers, I pay close attention. Nothing against either man, but Rapoport and Silver are not among  them.

I don't doubt that both of them heard something - though I'm not sure it's "news" that Tomlin's coming back next year. No kidding. Has anybody in Pittsburgh not been saying that all season long?

Any reporter you see on TV has an agent. And many of those agents also represent both players and coaches. And that's how a lot of this kind of stuff gets started, through agents hoping to make themselves and a client more money.

After wandering through the wasteland of the '80s and '90s without a star quarterback, does anyone think that the Steelers, who finally found one in Roethlisberger, are in any hurry to get rid of him?

Last Sunday, when Rapoport's initial report that Roethlisberger was unhappy and would seek a trade and the Steelers would be open to exploring that option - and had, in fact, done so the previous summer - was denied by Roethlisberger's agent, then the Steelers and finally Roethlisberger  himself. In fact, Roethlisberger denied it several times.

For their part, the Steelers are standing by team president Art Rooney II's simple and succinct statement:

"Contrary to erroneous reports, the Pittsburgh Steelers have not explored trading quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and have no plans to do so."

Rapoport immediately grasped at Rooney's use of the word "plans," as proof that something might happen.

Ridiculous.

This is not to say that Roethlisberger won't ever play for another team. Heck, Peyton Manning and Joe Montana finished their careers elsewhere.

But neither were traded by their respective teams without a solid plan already in place. In Manning's case, the Colts knew they were getting Andrew Luck. In the case of Montana, the 49ers had Steve Young waiting in the wings.

The Steelers have Bruce Gradkowski and Landry Jones. Nothing against either guy, but neither should be the heir apparent to a two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

The Steelers aren't about to head into the wasteland of not having a franchise quarterback. They've been there and struggled through that.

And please save me the idea that they can tank the rest of this season and get one of the top quarterback prospects in this draft. Even when the Steelers found themselves fortunate enough to take Roethlisberger in the draft, they didn't plan on playing him as a rookie.

It's just not the way they work. They never want to be forced to play a rookie.

Roethlisberger is also sincere in his desire to finish his career with the Steelers. His wife and her family is from here. He's made Pittsburgh his home.

Is there perhaps some jockeying being done right now behind the scenes for offseason contract negotiations? Absolutely that could be the case.

But there's also this. The Steelers are losing this season and remain one of the NFL's most popular franchise.

The people at NFL Network know that  they can drive some ratings by talking about a popular franchise that is struggling.

Mid-week blues

The Steelers entire starting offensive line - whatever that is - sat out practice on Wednesday. We'll probably see several, if not most, of them return to practice today, but it's a troubling trend to have a line that is so banged up, especially considering what the Steelers have ahead of them.

The Steelers play three games in 11 days starting with Sunday's game against the Lions. That's a pretty quick turnaround by anyone's standards, especially in the middle of the season when they've already logged nine games - 13 if you count the preseason.

Of the injured linemen, I would expect Ramon Foster to be the only one who sits out this weekend with his high ankle sprain.

Everybody else returned on Thursday.

@ Pro Football Talk ran a blurb Wednesday with the headline "Roethlisberger keeps talking about how he doesn’t want to talk about trade rumor"

Perhaps the headline should have read, "Roethlisberger keeps being asked about trade rumor that everybody has already dismissed."

The accompanying story made light of the fact that Roethlisberger keeps saying he doesn't want to talk about the trade "rumor," but continues to do so.

What's he supposed to do when he's continually asked about it?

@ LaMarr Woodley and Brett Keisel were both still out of practice on Thursday, though I would expect both to try to play.

It's important for Keisel, in particular, to get back onto the field.

The Steelers will need him to help their run defense. The Lions have only allowed 10 sacks all season, so it's not like the pass rush and, in particular, Woodley, is going to get there a lot on Sunday anyway.

Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau did say, however, that part of the reason for that is because Detroit QB Matthew Stafford has a tendency when pressured to just throw the ball up for grabs. When you've got a 6-5 receiver in Calvin Johnson and a 6-7 tight end in Joseph Fauria, you can do that.

@ We'll see if Detroit running back Reggie Bush gets on the Steelers' radar for this quote, "There have been some big lanes," when talking about the Pittsburgh run defense.

Those lanes have mostly happened in road games, where the Steelers are allowing 149.8 yards per game compared to the 99 per game they allow at home.

The Lions, by the way, average just 87.8 yards rushing in their road games and 21.8 point per game away from Ford Field.

Tuesday with Tomlin

The Steelers are a little banged up heading into their game next Sunday against Detroit.

Head coach Mike Tomlin said rookie safety Shamarko Thomas is out this week - and possibly longer - with a high ankle sprain.

Guard Ramon Foster also has a high ankle sprain, but Tomlin isn't counting him out just yet. Guy Whimper would likely get the start at left guard if Foster can't play.

That's a big injury considering the strength of the Detroit defense is its interior line play.

LaMarr Woodley (calf) and Brett Keisel (foot) also will be limited early in the week.

@ With Thomas out, look for veteran safety Will Allen to play a more prominent role.

@ Tomlin said that veteran tight end Michael Palmer has earned more playing time due to what he's shown in practice.

The depth chart reflects that. Palmer is now No. 2 with David Paulson No. 3.

Tomlin didn't have an update yet on the status of Matt Spaeth, but Spaeth has been around the facility more often lately and has made a couple of the recent road trips as well.

I've been asked why the Steelers are carrying four active tight ends on their roster. The reason is simple, even though Richard Gordon has yet to dress for a game.

Heath Miller has been given every Wednesday off this season to rest his knee. The Steelers need Gordon around to practice on Wednesdays.

If/when Spaeth is activated, Gordon will be let go.

@ Tomlin's line of the day came when discussing running back Jonathan Dwyer's contributions this season.

When asked if he's seen a change in Dwyer's outlook, Tomlin replied, "I would guess that unemployment does that."

Post-Buffalo thoughts

Ben Roethlisberger, his agent and Steelers president Art Rooney II all denied the NFL Network report that Roethlisberger wants to be traded after this season and that the team is considering doing so.

In fact, Roethlisberger vehemently denied it, saying he's a Pittsburgher now and wants to end his career with the Steelers.

Judging from Roethlisberger's denial, his voice inflection and body language, he's either serious in his denial or a very good liar.

@ Sunday's 23-10 win over Buffalo improved the Steelers' record to 19-2 against rookie quarterbacks with Dick LeBeau as the defensive coordinator. That mark has been improved by a 2-0 record this season.

The trouble is, the Steelers aren't scheduled to face any more rookie QBs the rest of the way - unless some teams decide to change starters.

@ Still, the most important thing was not that the Steelers beat another rookie starter Sunday, it was that they showed the ability to shut down a good rushing attack.

C.J. Spiller had nowhere to go throughout this game and finished with 23 yards on eight carries.

Fred Jackson's numbers - 12-55 - look better on paper, but were propped up by an 11-yard run late in the game and an 8-yard carry late in the first half. On both occasions, the Steelers were more than happy to allow the Bills to run the ball.

Take away those two carries and Jackson had 10 carries for 34 yards.

The Steelers did an excellent job of staying in their gaps and stringing out plays to the sideline. That was especially big against Spiller, who is faster than anyone the Steelers have on defense.

@ After Sunday's effort, it was obvious it was a good thing the Steelers didn't keep Brian Moorman around.

@ Mario Williams was a huge focus for many coming into this game. He  not only failed to record a sack in this game, he didn't sniff  making a tackle, either.

@ Le'Veon Bell might be the Steelers' best running back coming out of the backfield as a receiver since John L.Williams.

He's still feeling his way as a running back, ie. hitting holes, etc. But he's really providing some punch in the short passing game.

@ Some people have asked why I think Mike Adams still has a future on this team. Take a  look at Sunday's game tape.

Adams is a ferocious run blocker. He needs to get better in his pass sets, but that should come. Then again, the entire team needs to get better in its pass blocking.

@ I didn't pick the Steelers to win this game because I thought they would have issues stopping Buffalo's run game and also slowing the Bills' pass rush.

But that didn't mean I didn't think the Steelers could win this one.

Now that they have, what does it mean?

We'll see next week. If the Steelers can get a win next week over Detroit, they're back in the playoff hunt.

As it stands now, they're two games out of the division lead with a game still remaining at home against Cincinnati.

They're also just two games out of the final AFC wildcard spot currently held by the Jets, over  whom they hold a tiebreaker.

Again, a win over Detroit this week could make things very interesting.

Steelers-Bills game-day thread

First, let's address the Ben Roethlisberger trade "rumor."

Not only have the Steelers not explored trading Roethlisberger, they have $14 million reasons not to. That's the amount of dead money he would count against their salary cap next season if they moved him after this season is complete.

The Steelers would have to sign Roethlisberger to a more cap-friendly contract extension before moving him. And if they were able to do that, why would they want to trade him?

The whole thing stinks to me of an agent trying to lay the groundwork for offseason contract talks, something that goes on all the time but doesn't necessarily get reported.

Roethlisberger's agent later Tweeted that the entire report was wrong and that the QB wanted to finish his career in Pittsburgh.

The only time the Steelers even remotely considered trading Roethlisberger was during the 2010 offseason when he was going  through his legal problems.

At that time, they had both Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch as backup quarterbacks.

And all he did that season was lead them to a third Super Bowl.

The Steelers aren't going to trade Roethlisberger now with only Bruce Gradkowski and Landry Jones as possible replacements.

They don't want to be forced to play a rookie QB. Remember, the only reason Roethlisberger played as a rookie was because Tommy Maddox got hurt. The plan was to allow him to sit and learn a season under Maddox.

@ Jones, Derek Moye, DeMarcus Van Dyke, Richard Gordon, Kion Wilson, Chris Carter and Hebron Fangupo are inactive for the Steelers.

For Buffalo, the only inactive of any import is Robert Woods, a rookie who is the team's third-leading receiver.

Both  Marcus Gilbert and Kelvin Beachum are active for the Steelers and are expected to start.

William Gay will start at CB.

Who I like, Buffalo version

The Steelers have allowed 197 yards rushing in back-to-back games to fall to 31st in the NFL against the  run.

They're better than that, but there's no doubt the run defense hasn't been up to snuff this season.

That’s bad news against the Bills. With Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller, Buffalo runs the ball as well as anyone. The Bills average 145.3 yards rushing per game. Add in E.J. Manuel doing some running  out of the read-option as well, and the Bills can hurt the Steelers on the ground.

Buffalo also has some premium pass rushers, led by Mario Williams, and is third in the NFL in sacks.

Like the Steelers, the Bills have found ways to pull defeated out of the jaws of victory.

The Steelers are 3-point favorites in this game and could certainly win it. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Ben Roethlisberger has a lot of success throwing the ball. Buffalo has allowed an amazing 20 touchdown passes already this season.

But the feeling is that the Bills will control this game with their rushing attack and squeak out a win.

Take Buffalo, 21-20

Thursday news, notes

This is a big week for the Steelers. At 2-6, they don't have a lot to hang their hats on.

They've been within a touchdown of the lead or a tie entering the fourth quarter of each of their games this season, only to fall short six times.

But watching the Thursday night game, I was reminded that, at 2-6, you're not necessarily out of the playoff race.

In 2012, Washington started its season 3-6, then won its next seven games.

That's why the Steelers aren't making sweeping changes. Right now, they're two games out of a playoff spot in the AFC and three games off the lead in the AFC North.

As we saw Monday night when Green Bay lost Aaron Rodgers for six weeks to a broken collarbone, you never know what might happen with your future opponents or division rivals.

@ A lot is being made this week of the fact that both of Buffalo's starting guards were with the Steelers.

Kraig Urbik was a third-round draft pick of the Steelers in 2009.

He was terrible in camp as a rookie that season and was barely passable in 2010 but was going to make the roster.

Unfortunately for the Steelers, Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for the first four games of 2010 due to the Milledgeville, Ga., incident.

Pittsburgh planned to go into the season with two quarterbacks, Byron Leftwich and Dennis Dixon, to ride out the first month without Roethlisberger. But Leftwich was injured in the preseason finale and the Steelers had to keep a fourth quarterback, Charlie Batch, on the roster.

That meant that somebody had to go that the Steelers had planned to keep. That somebody was Urbik.

Doug Legursky is the other starting guard and he left Pittsburgh as a free agent before this season. The Steelers liked Legursky as a center, but not as much as a guard.

The Steelers felt they would be better served with Kelvin Beachum, who they felt could play all five spots on the line, being their top backup. He's now their starting left tackle.

@ Ike Taylor was back in practice today as he tries to return from a concussion.

Vince Williams was cleared as well, but was limited.

That's bad news for him. Mike Tomlin usually keeps rookies who don't get a full week of practice on the sidelines because he feels they need as much practice as possible to play.

If Williams doesn't play, Stevenson Sylvester will get the call.

@ Beachum and Marcus Gilbert were also out again today.

Wednesday news, notes

Earlier in the week, I stated that Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau isn't the part of what's ailing the team right now. In fact, he'll be one of the solutions.

But one of the prevailing questions being tossed around the locker room today - when Incognito-Martin questions weren't being lobbed at players - was whether LeBeau had lost his fastball.

Ridiculous.

Since LeBeau returned to Pittsburgh in 2004, the Steelers have ranked 1st, 4th, 9th, 1st, 1st, 5th, 2nd, 1st and, yet again, 1st in the NFL in total defense.

In that period, the Steelers also went to four AFC Championships, three Super Bowls and won a pair of championships.

Just because Terrelle Pryor broke off a 93-yard run and Tom Brady torched the defense for 610 yards in back-to-back weeks doesn't mean LeBeau can't coach.

It means the players just aren't getting things done right now.

The biggest issue, to me, is that the run defense has allowed 197 yards in back-to-back games.

This is a team that basically has three new starters in its front seven - nose tackle Steve McLendon, Vince Williams at inside linebacker and the Jason Worilds/Jarvis Jones combo at outside linebacker.

Those three are replacing Casey Hampton, Larry Foote and James Harrison, respectively.

By themselves, those changes could be covered up. All together, it's a big change, not only in level of play, but experience.

And when the Steelers aren't crushing the run - they've fallen to 31st in run defense - it opens up a lot of things in the passing game.

Safeties Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu are biting  on pretty much every run fake because they have to with this front seven. And that's hurting the Steelers on the backside in the passing game.

@ David DeCastro was back at practice today, but Kelvin Beachum (knee), Marcus Gilbert (ankle) and Fernando Velasco (thigh) were all out.

@ It was good to see rookie receiver Markus Wheaton back at practice today. He still has his pinky wrapped, but it didn't appear to bother him catching the football.

@ Sean Spence was placed on season-ending injured reserve and wasn't around the facility today.

I'm sure Spence was hurt by the news that the Steelers weren't going to put him on the active roster as he continues his attempt to come back from a dislocated knee and torn ligaments suffered last preseason, but at least the Steelers are keeping the door open for him.

Pittsburgh could have released him outright, but he showed enough in the past few weeks of practice that the organization is willing to keep him around. The Steelers could have released him outright.

Tuesday with Tomlin

Mike Tomlin is apparently not much of a David Bowie fan. You know, Ch-ch-ch-changes.

Tomlin announced there would be no changes at this point after Sunday's debacle in New England and that he did not see any "blatant" lack of effort issues for the Steelers.

As I've stated before, Tomlin's hands are really kind of tied at this point.

Many of the young guys on this team are already playing: Jarvis Jones, David DeCastro, Vince Williams, Mike Adams, Kelvin Beachum, Shamarko Thomas, Le'Veon Bell.

And Markus Wheaton, who has been out the past month with a broken finger, is expected to return Sunday.

The Steelers aren't going to give up on a season. And, at least according to the standings, they're still alive for a playoff berth.

Perhaps if the losing continues, they'll make some moves later in the season to get some younger guys in the game on a full-time basis. But right now, they're still fighting.

Remember, the last time they started 2-6 - in 2006 - they went 6-2 in the second half to finish 8-8.

This is a proud bunch and it's just not the Steelers way to give up on a season.

@ For those wondering, here's the snap counts thus far for some of the younger players:

Jarvis Jones 230 snaps; Shamarko Thomas 189; Vince Williams 289; Le'Veon Bell 264; David DeCastro 426; Kelvin Beachum 392; Mike Adams 339.

The Steelers have had 527 defensive and 530 offensive plays.

Again, it's not like those guys aren't seeing the field and seeing it plenty.

@ Tomlin was asked about Dick LeBeau today and whether he still has faith in his defensive coordinator. He simply answered, "Certainly."

When pressed on that, Tomlin replied, "Because he's Dick LeBeau. Does that answer your question?"

Good for Tomlin. LeBeau isn't the problem. In fact, if he decides to stay around, he'll be part of the solution.

@ Tomlin said he pulled Antonio Brown out of the game Sunday because he made a mistake in his route running that led to Ben Roethlisberger's last interception.

Some ran with that saying that because Tomlin was willing to bench Brown, he should have also taken Roethlisberger out of the rout in order to protect his quarterback.

But they didn't listen to the rest of Tomlin's explanation.

"As opposed to continuing to absorb negativity from that standpoint, potentially, with some things we were doing in the no-huddle offense, I chose to remove him from the game."

Later, Tomlin explained further: "He was frustrated at the end of the football game, and rightfully so. There were a lot of us that were."

Sounds to me like Brown got a little chippy on the sideline following the interception and Tomlin decided to bench him for it.

@ In addition to Wheaton, DeCastro is expected to be a full participant this week in practice.

Marcus Gilbert (ankle), Ike Taylor (concussion) and Williams (concussion) will be limited.

With Taylor limited and possibly out - he has to pass concussion tests - the Steelers re-signed DeMarcus Van Dyke and released Isaiah Green.

Van Dyke gives them some leeway in case Curtis Brown isn't recovered from the death in his family suffered last week.

@ When asked who should be held accountable for the team's draft failures, Tomlin said, "I take responsibility for the players we have drafted since I've been here."

Post-New England thoughts

There's not a lot to say about this game on the defensive side of the ball. In fact, there's nothing good to say about what the Steelers put on tape defensively on Sunday.

There were some good plays - Steve McLendon getting penetration at the goal line to stuff a fourth-and-inches run, Jason Worilds getting a couple of sacks - including one on which he beat the tackle - Troy Polamalu forcing a fumble early in the third quarter. But those were few and far between.

The secondary had easily its worst day of the season, failing to get its hands on a single one of Tom Brady's 33 pass attempts and drawing three pass interference penalty.

It was like an added scene from Airplane. "The Steelers picked the wrong day to quit playing defense."

The biggest problem was the run defense, or lack thereof. New England averaged 5.6 yards per carry with a long run of 23 yards and one Tom Brady kneeldown.

The Patriots averaged a ridiculous 8.6 yards per play.

@ By the same token, the Steelers offense played a reasonably good game - outside of three Ben Roethlisberger turnovers.

Roethlisberger was sacked five times, but at least four were because Roethlisberger held the ball too long.

@ As bad as things are right now, the Steelers were in the same boat in 2003. The Steelers didn't quit that season and went 4-4 down the stretch, including a 13-10 overtime loss at Baltimore in the regular season finale.

These Steelers won't quit, either.

So forget about all of the "They have to play this young guy or that young guy" stuff.

Jarvis Jones, Le'Veon Bell, Shamarko Thomas and Vince Williams are getting plenty of playing time. Markus Wheaton has been held back by his broken finger, but he wouldn't deserve playing time over Jerricho Cotchery at this point.

Cotchery is having an outstanding season.

@ Cam Heyward continues to get better and better.

But there's something missing in the team's run defense. McLendon makes some plays here and there, but he's not the long-term answer as the starting nose tackle.

In fact, he's probably better suited to be the No. 2 nose tackle.

@ It's probably not going to happen, but I would take a serious look at Jones at inside linebacker moving forward.

You can win with Jason Worilds at outside linebacker, but I'm not so sure that you can with Williams at inside linebacker.

Williams left Sunday's game with a concussion, so his status for next week's game against Buffalo will be in doubt.

Jones has good coverage skills and might be better served in the NFL if he didn't constantly have to take on offensive linemen. Put him inside and let him run the ball.

Steelers-Patriots game-day thread

No surprises on the inactive list today for the Steelers.

Landry Jones, Markus Wheaton, Curtis Brown, Richard Gordon, Kion Wilson, David DeCastro and Hebron Fangupo are inactive for the Steelers.

It's sunny but chilly here at Gillette Stadium.

Cornerback Aquib Talib, who leads the Patriots with four interceptions, and wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins, who has four touchdown catches, are inactive for the Patriots.

The Patriots are going with seven active offensive linemen for the game.

Who I like, New England version

For all of the talk about New England dominating the Steelers, Pittsburgh has actually won two of the past three matchups against the Patriots. Of course, one of those games came with Matt Cassel at quarterback instead of Tom Brady.

Brady owns a 6-2 career record against the Steelers, though four of those meetings came prior to 2005, when Brady and the Patriots were still winning Super Bowls.

As hard as it is to believe, the Patriots haven’t won a Super Bowl since the 2004 season. Since then, the Steelers have won two Super Bowls and been to another.

But that wasn’t these Steelers, or these Patriots, for that matter.

While the Steelers’ issues during their 2-5 start have been well-documented – turnovers, sacks and lack thereof and allowing big plays on defense – the Patriots have found a way to overcome some of the same issues to win.

New England has allowed 23 sacks, is converting on 32 percent of its third downs, Brady has been intercepted six times and the Patriots have fumbled 11 times. But they’ve only lost three of those fumbles.

New England’s opponents have also lost 11 fumbles, but the Patriots have recovered six.

It adds up to a plus-7 for the Patriots in turnover margin, which will help you overcome some shortcomings.

By contrast, the Steelers have fumbled 10 times and lost seven. Their opponents have fumbled seven times and recovered one.

The Steelers are minus-9 in turnover margin, but much of that was built during the team’s 0-4 start. Pittsburgh has turned the ball over just three times in its past three games.

The Patriots have 10 interceptions this season, though four have been by corner Aqib Talib, and he’s questionable to play with a hip injury.

The Patriots are 7 ½-point favorites in this game and that seems like a big number for a team that has seen six of its eight games decided by a touchdown or less.

The Steelers will continue to take better care of the football, and it wouldn't surprise me if they won. But not having David DeCastro, who has been their best offensive linemen, available will hurt.

I expect them to lose yet another close one.

Take New England, 24-20

Random news, notes

It appears as if the Steelers will be at full strength on the offensive line when they head to New England.

Ramon Foster returned to practice Thursday, and though he must pass another ImPact Test Friday, that shouldn't be a problem.

David DeCastro is also expected to try to return Friday.

@ The Steelers do not have to make a final decision on Sean Spence until next Wednesday.

But the broken hand he suffered two weeks ago likely means he's headed to injured reserve.

@ The Steelers are expecting plenty of no-huddle out of the Patriots, which is to be expected since that's what the Patriots do a lot of.

But New England's no-huddle is different than everyone else's in that they run a play, sprint back to the line of scrimmage and snap the ball with 25-plus seconds remaining on the clock.

In many cases, however, it's been hurry up and punt for New England, which is converting just 32 percent of its third downs.

@ Aquib Talib continues to struggle with a hip injury for the Patriots and his loss would be a big one.

Talib has accounted for four interceptions. That's one less turnover than the Steelers have as a team.

@ After speaking with reporters Thursday, defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau asked if anyone wanted to talk to him about turnovers.

"What, we start getting them and now nobody wants to talk about them," LeBeau said jokingly.

Wednesday news, notes

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took part in drills Wednesday but did not participate in the team portion of practice.

It's no big deal, but Roethlisberger did admit the team's lack of  scoring in the first quarter of games, and more specifically on the opening possessions where they have yet to score, is a big deal.

The Steelers have scored one first quarter touchdown and total points in the first quarter and have just six first downs on their opening possessions when working off offensive coordinator Todd Haley's script.

But let's be honest, it's not just Haley's script, Roethlisberger has a say in what's on the script as well. He sits down with Haley every Saturday night and is given some veto power over what is run.

When asked about the lack of success off the script, however, Roethlisberger said reporters would have to ask Haley what's going wrong.

@ David DeCastro and Ramon Foster did not practice Wednesday, but Foster did pass his concussion tests. Look for him to practice Thursday.

DeCastro, meanwhile, was moving around well Wednesday despite sitting out. His sprained ankle does not appear serious.

@ For the record, LaMarr Woodley was not responsible for the quarterback on Terrelle Pryor's 93-yard touchdown run to open the game against the Raiders.

Woodley's responsibility in that situation was coming down the line of scrimmage on backside pursuit of the running back. Lawrence Timmons, who had shifted sides at the last moment with Vince Williams at inside linebacker, and Ryan Clark were responsible for Pryor.

Tuesday with Tomlin

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had better news than expected when it came to his injury outlook for this weekend's game at New England.

Tomlin said all three linemen injured against Oakland, David DeCastro (ankle), Ramon Foster (concussion) and Guy Whimper (knee) have been checked out and could play this weekend.

Foster has been cleared to practice, while Whimper only hyperextended his knee.

DeCastro could be limited with his ankle sprain early in the week, but could be return to practice later in the week.

Also, rookie wide receiver Markus Wheaton has not been ruled out with his fractured finger.

@ Tomlin said he and Ben Roethlisberger spoke Monday about Roethlisberger's use of timeouts down the stretch against Oakland and that the Steelers would have preferred to have all three once Oakland got the ball back.

@ Tomlin said he is open to making a trade before the deadline.

But don't expect anything at this point.

@ Jarvis Jones has been demoted to second team and Tomlin said it's due to the rookie not always playing his responsibilities.

That was obvious a few times - the few times he was on the field before being pulled - when he lost outside contain against the Raiders. Jones didn't start against the Raiders and it could be a while before he starts again.

@ Tomlin said he felt Zoltan Mesko rebounded from the blocked punt to make some good kicks, pointing out a punt he made that was downed at the  1 late in the game.

Tomlin said he's open to looking at upgrades at all positions, but it doesn't sound like he's ready to make a change.

That change came later in the day when the Steelers waived Mesko and signed Mat McBriar.

McBriar, an Australian, has kicked in the NFL since 2004, mostly with Dallas. He spent the 2012 season with Philadelphia and has a career average of 45.4 yards per kick.

@ Through eight weeks of the season, there hasn't been a 100-yard rusher in the AFC North this season. Who'd have thunk it in a division that used to be known for power football?

Post-Oakland thoughts

Terrelle Pryor's 93-yard touchdown run on the game's first play from scrimmage was a tone setter for the Raiders.

It put Pittsburgh's defense on its heels for the remainder of a first half which saw Oakland build a 21-3 lead.

Oakland had 244 total yards in the first half and finished with 279. I'm no math whiz, but that looks like 35 yards in the final two quarters.

But  the damage, thanks to that Pryor run and Zoltan Mesko not fielding the snap cleanly, which led to a little pressure by Rashad Jennings on David Paulson turning into a partially blocked punt that gave the Raiders the ball at the Pittsburgh 26.

It appeared that had Robert Golden not immediately fielded the punt - he appeared to think it was a live ball - it might have traveled another 10 to 15 yards.

But hey, once again, the Steelers defense could have stopped an opponent on a short field, but did not.

Those failures to come up with stops on quick changes have been killers this season.

@ Pittsburgh won the turnover battle and lost for the first time since Oct., 2010 against Baltimore. For a team that doesn't get many turnovers, that's a true killer.

@ Pryor completed 10 of 19 passes for 88 yards and two interceptions, a passer rating of 25.7. And won.

He won because he broke Kordell Stewart's record for a touchdown run by a quarterback of 80 yards.

In fact, I feel like I had seen Pryor's performance 100 times before because I saw every start Stewart made for the Steelers in person.

Everything about Pryor's game Sunday looked like Stewart, from the great runs to the overthrown passes that turned into interceptions.

Pryor was 6 of 11 passing for 43 yards when the Steelers kept him in the pocket. Problem was, they didn't do it nearly enough in the first half, thanks to that 93-yard run.

@ Down 11, Ben Roethlisberger wasted a timeout on second-and-three at the Oakland 12 because he was too busy arguing for what he thought was a horse collar tackle on Le'Veon Bell.

That timeout sure would have come in handy even if the Steelers had been forced to kick a field goal in that situation. They scored a touchdown, instead, to cut the lead to 21-18 after also getting a two-point conversion.

Pittsburgh used both of its remaining timeouts and Oakland ran its third-down play with 1:10 remaining. By the time the Raiders punted, because the Steelers were out of timeouts, they got the ball back with 18 seconds remaining.

Roethlisberger said that he and Mike Tomlin will talk Monday about whether it's more important to take a delay penalty in that situation or use the timeout.

How about this? Let the officials call the game and keep playing. Then, you don't have to worry about whether a penalty is called or not. I've yet to see an official, 20 seconds after a play is over, decide that he did, indeed, see a penalty because a player pleaded with him.

But, if Roethlisberger is going to argue, he's got to take the penalty in that situation rather than burning a timeout.

@ Shaun Suisham has missed five field goals in the past season and a half, but each one of them has been costly.

That's the way things go when you count on winning games by three.

@ I'll be shocked if Mesko is still on this team by the end of this week. After all, somebody has to take the fall for this disaster. Why not the JV punter?

Steelers-Raiders game day thread

No real surprises on the Steelers' inactive list today. It includes Landry Jones, Markus Wheaton, Richard Gordon, Curtis Brown, Chris Carter, Kion Wilson and Hebron Fangupo.

The weather here is overcast with a slight chill.

Interesting to note that the Raiders have completely covered the upper deck seats ala. Jacksonville. Guess they're guaranteeing sellouts, but they are taking a lot of the crowd, and crowd noise, out of the equation.

For the Raiders, starting  strong safety Tyvon Branch and right tackle Tony Pashos are out.

Who I like, Oakland version

This is an interesting matchup for the Steelers, who have had their issues heading out to the Black Hole.

In his past three games against the Raiders, Ben Roethlisberger has thrown nine touchdown passes and one interception. So clearly, he has not been the issue in the Steelers going 1-2 in those games.

What has been the issue is the defense.

Take, for example, last season, when the Steelers lost 34-31 in Oakland.

The Steelers held a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter that they allowed to slip away - in part thanks to an Antonio Brown fumble in Oakland territory.

Carson Palmer brought the Raiders back, leading them to 13 unanswered points and looking as good as he has at any time since, I don't know, Kimo von Oelhoffen wrecked his knee.

Darren McFadden also hurt the Steelers early in that game with his running to open things up for Palmer.

This year, however, it's Terrelle Pryor starting for the Raiders. In fact, this will be just the ninth career game for Pryor, essentially making him only slightly better than a rookie.

And we all know what the Steelers' record is against rookie quarterbacks with Dick LeBeau as their defensive coordinator coach.

Pryor is a dangerous threat. He leads all AFC quarterbacks in rushing and has actually been decent as a passer, completing well over 60 percent of his throws this season. But he's also been intercepted five times in just 136 passes and has three fumbles, so there's good and bad.

And he'll be playing behind something of a makeshift offensive line that has three starters banged up.

The thing the Steelers must guard against, however, is the fact that this is a trap game, sandwiched between a home game against Baltimore and a road game versus New England.

But I liked the fact that head coach Mike Tomlin gave the team a history lesson in the Pittsburgh-Oakland rivalry this week, something he really hadn't done before.

I also liked the fact that when one reporter, trying, as he said, to work ahead this week, started asking defensive backs how they would handle covering Rob Gronkowski, they told him they would worry about that next week.

The Steelers are 2 1/2 point favorites in this one and must have it before their trip to New England next week. After that game, the schedule eases up considerably.

Take the Steelers, 23-20

Wednesday news, notes

Jarvis Jones practiced fully today and said he felt like he could have played Sunday against Baltimore.

But, Jones hadn't practiced fully all week, something head coach Mike Tomlin wants his young players to do to get a feel for the game plan.

Jones should be a full go this week.

@ It appears that the Wildcat is here to stay in some form or fashion, whether Ben Roethlisberger cares for it or not.

Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his radio show that he wasn't a big fan of it because it gives defenders a chance to take a free shot at him.

But Wednesday, while saying he's not a huge fan of it, he added that he's willing to do whatever it takes to win.

Again, it's not something the Steelers might run every week, but throwing it out there every once in a while does give opponents something to gameplan for.

@ The Steelers are just 6-16 scoring touchdowns in the red zone. That number has to get better.

The most surprising part of that is their lack of a running game inside the 20. Pittsburgh as 14 carries for 27 yards in the red zone, with Le'Veon Bell having 12 of those for 20 yards.

That number includes his 8-yard TD run against Minnesota, which means he's produced 12 yards on his other 11 carries.

That has to get better.

It was against the Ravens, when Bell produced 14 yards on four red zone carries, so there is some hope.

But all three of the Ravens' sacks in the game came with the Steelers in the red zone. Roethlisberger can't take sacks down close.

@ The Steelers are reportedly showing an interest in former Kansas City tight end Tony Moeacki, who was placed on waivers by Kansas City Wednesday.

Moeacki has had injury issues since his breakout rookie season, but could certainly help the Steelers, if healthy.

The waiver claims go in order of current record.

@ According to SteelCityInsider.net capologist Ian Whetstone, Ike Taylor restructured his contract to give the Steelers some cap space this year.

Taylor dropped his base salary to the minimum and took the rest in signing bonus. That lowers his cap hit from $9.45 million this year to $7.965 million.

But his salary next year jumps from $10.454 million to $11.92 million.

Tuesday with Tomlin

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.

Post-Baltimore thoughts

The formula for the Steelers seems pretty simple this season - don't turn the ball over more than once, you win. Turn it over two or more times than the other team, you lose.

That's life in today's NFL, where even Peyton Manning can look human in his return to Indianapolis.

I wrote prior to Sunday's game between the Steelers and Ravens that there weren't a lot of differences between the two teams, and that's the case.

The Steelers have the talent to beat or lose to anyone in the NFL, as they've proven this season, in any given week. Apparently, that's the case with every team.

@ The differences between the Steelers and Ravens - at least on Sunday - was Le'Veon Bell. He ran hard and instinctively.

That was the Bell we saw in the offseason workouts and early on in training camp.

Baltimore's running game wasn't close, despite the Ravens spreading the Steelers out and running a lot of no-huddle to keep nose tackle Steve McClendon off the field.

Baltimore averaged 3.2 yards per carry, 2.8 yards when you take out Joe Flacco's two scrambles for 14 yards.

That's not supposed to happen when you've forced the opposing team to play most of the game with six defensive backs on the field most of the time.

@ It was obvious the Ravens' reasoning for keeping McLendon off the field was because Gino Gradkowski couldn't block him. McLendon owned the younger brother of Steelers quarterback Bruce Gradkowski in the handful of short-yardage plays Baltimore ran.

@ The Steelers had eight possessions, while the Ravens had seven.

That was old-school Steelers-Ravens football.

And it was the reason why Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh went for a desperation surprise onside kick early in the fourth quarter. He knew his defense wasn't going to stop yet another Steelers field goal drive. So he rolled the dice and tried to steal a possession.

Plus, he kept the Steelers from grinding another eight minutes off the clock.

@ Jonathan Dwyer isn't getting a lot of playing time, but few plays he is getting are impactful.

He had a nice run in a short-yardage situation and also threw a big block at the end of a 19-yard scramble by Ben Roethlisberger.

It's too bad it took getting cut to light a fire under Dwyer. But it seemed to work.

@ Emmanuel Sanders' potential game-winning kick return would have been one of the most exciting plays in the NFL this weekend. It would have gone down in history as one of the great plays in the Pittsburgh-Baltimore rivalry.

It would have been a lot of things - had Bill Levy's officiating crew not supposedly blown a whistle after seeing Sanders step out of bounds.

Funny thing is that nobody heard the whistle, despite Sanders trekking right past the Pittsburgh bench all the way to the end zone.

And the NFL rule states that once the whistle is blown, a play cannot be reviewed.

Sanders' return came with less then two minutes remaining in the game and would have been reviewed. For that matter, as a scoring play, it would have automatically been reviewed no matter when it happened.

Levy and company should have swallowed their whistles - which according to everyone on the Pittsburgh sideline, happened anyway - and let nature run its course.

It appeared that Sanders might have contacted the sideline - barely. But we'll never know now what a review might have said.

@ Kudos to Mike Tomlin for sticking with his game plan and not using Mike Adams at right tackle when Marcus Gilbert was unable to go.

The Steelers planned all week to use Adams, their best run-blocking lineman, as a third tight end. But when Gilbert went down, the easy thing would have been to put him at right tackle and scrap the tight end role.

Instead, he used Guy Whimper at right tackle and continued with Adams as an extra blocker.

@ Last week we saw Antonio Brown used a couple of times as a passer on end around - once for a reception to Felix Jones, the second time a sack.

This week, it was Le'Veon Bell, a former high school quarterback, running the Wildcat.

As Tomlin said after the game, whatever is needed to provide a win.

Neither of those trick plays or formations added up to a ton of yards, but they give future opponents something else to prepare for.

Steelers-Ravens game day

Jarvis Jones is inactive today for the Steelers. As expected, Jason Worilds will start in his place.

Also inactive are Landry Jones, Markus Wheaton, Curtis Brown, Isaac Redman, Richard Gordon and Hebron Fangupo.

For Baltimore, Terrence Cody, Bryant McKinnie and Josh Bynes are among the key inactives.

Jameel McClain or Arthur Brown will start at linebacker in place of Bynes.

The weather is sunny but chilly here in Pittsburgh. The field is a little chewed up from the Pitt-Old Dominion game here last night.

Who I like, Ravens version

When you look at the Ravens and Steelers, there are, as usual, a lot of similarities.

This season, many of those similarities are for bad things.

Plenty of turnovers? Check.

Trouble protecting the quarterback? Check.

No running game? Check?

The differences? Pittsburgh's defense has been more stingy in terms of yards allowed, while Baltimore's pass rush has been better.

Other than that and a 1-4 record for the Steelers compared to a 3-3 mark for Baltimore, they are nearly identical.

So who to pick in this game?

Baltimore has won three of its past four games in Pittsburgh, while the Steelers have won three of five in Baltimore. Go figure.

The Steelers are also 0-2 at home this season. But Baltimore is 1-2 on the road.

The Steelers are also 9-5 against the Ravens when Ben Roethlisberger starts at QB, while the Ravens are 5-5 with Joe Flacco at quarterback against the Steelers.

I think this is the year that these two teams flip-flop their home/away splits, with the Steelers beating the Ravens in Pittsburgh and Baltimore winning the rematch at home.

The Steelers are 1 1/2-point favorites in this game. I don't see the Steelers dropping to 0-3 at home, especially considering that even at their worst, a 6-10 record in 2002, they still went 4-4 at Heinz Field, their worst record at their new football-only stadium.

Take Pittsburgh in a close one, 20-17

Wednesday news, notes

Jarvis Jones was a surprise holdout in practice today. Seems he's dealing with some kind of head injury, though Mike Tomlin didn't mention it Tuesday.

Jones was also very talkative after Sunday's game and didn't seem like somebody who had been concussed, so it might have been a precautionary thing.

@ Both LaMarr Woodley and Brett Keisel took part in practice Wednesday on at least a limited basis, so they'll be ready to go on Sunday against the Ravens.

In fact, because it's the Ravens, you can bet that they will be ready to go.

@ Many of the Steelers and both Terrell Suggs and John Harbaugh spoke today about how the NFL rule changes have affected the Baltimore-Pittsburgh games.

They're not as hard-hitting as usual - at least in the secondary.

Then there's this: Pittsburgh is averaging 3.1 yards per rushing attempt. Baltimore's even worse at 2.7.

@ Looking at the Ravens, they're actually worse than the Steelers in nearly every statistic category - except scoring.

Two returns for touchdowns help that. So do some turnovers that have set the Ravens up for some easy scores.

Most appalling? The Ravens are allowing 13.8 yards per reception this season to go along with 10 TD passes.

Sure, Denver and seven TD passes in the opener didn't help that, but the Ravens have also played Buffalo, Cleveland, Miami, Houston and Green Bay.

At this point, only Green Bay's passing offense would be considered good among that group.

Tuesday with Tomlin

The Steelers on Tuesday placed tight end David Johnson (wrist) and offensive tackle Levi Brown (pectoral) on injured reserve.

Both will require surgery.

To replace them on the roster, the Steelers signed former Raiders tight end Richard Gordon, whom Mike Tomlin said is a strong run blocker, and cornerback Isaiah Green. The Steelers like Green's special teams ability.

The Steelers did not sign an offensive tackle because they expect Mike Adams to be the backup at left and right tackle. The team liked the way Adams handled his demotion last week and aren't ready to give up on him.

@ Markus Wheaton will not be ready to return this week from the broken finger he suffered against Minnesota.

Brett Keisel (ribs) and LaMarr Woodley (knee) will be slowed in practice early in the week, but are expected to play against the Ravens.

@ Tomlin said he banned somersaults into the end zone, calling them potentially dangerous and silly.

@ Linebacker Sean Spence will practice in a limited basis this week as he continues his attempt to come back from a serious knee injury suffered in the 2012 preseason.

Privately, the coaching staff isn't expecting a return this season.

Post-Jets thoughts

The Steelers finally played something close to a complete game and came away with a dominating 19-6 win over the Jets.

That improves Pittsburgh's record to 16-2 against rookie quarterbacks with Dick LeBeau as the defensive coordinator.

Geno Smith, the latest rookie victim, made some plays in this game. The Steelers had three sacks, but could have just as easily had five or six sacks had Smith not scrambled out of trouble.

The Steelers also could have had four or five turnovers if they had just caught the ones Smith threw to them.

@ After a slow start - three and outs on the first two possessions - the offense started clicking. Ben Roethlisberger was just 1 for his first 4. He then connected on 14 of his next 15 passes, with the lone incompletion being a drop by Antonio Brown in the end zone.

The Steelers also scored on five of six possessions after those first two three-and-outs against  a defense that entered the game as one of just two allowing fewer than 300 yards this season.

Had Brown caught that pass he dropped, the offensive output would have looked even better. As it was, it was a solid effort against a good defense on the road.

@ After watching the Jets play the Falcons last week, I thought the Steelers could have some success with screens and misdirections. I also thought Heath Miller could play a big factor.

Check, check and check.

My favorite was the opening play of the team's third possession. The Steelers lined up Brown in the backfield as the running back behind Le'Veon Bell. At the snap, everyone went left and Roethlisberger faked a pitch to Brown.

Meanwhile, Bell slipped out of the backfield to the right and Roethlisberger tossed him the ball. Dawan Landry stayed at home and stopped Bell for a 12-yard gain, but it jump-started the Pittsburgh offense. And if Bell gets past Landry, he could have run to Connecticut.

@ I don't think it's a coincidence that the Steelers scored 19 points in their first two games without Miller and have scored 69 in the three games since.

That's not bad considering the defense and special teams have yet to set the offense up with many short fields.

In fact, other than a Brown punt return against Cincinnati, the Steelers have started their other 60 possessions on their own side of the 50. That's right, 1 for 61.

Miller is getting more comfortable on his reconstructed knee. The offense is only going to get better.

And the defense and special teams are sure to benefit from that improved play.

@ I thought the running backs really showed up well in this game in pass protection. Jonathan Dwyer did a nice job once again and Bell showed some chops there as well.

That will be critical this week at home against Baltimore.

The Ravens are struggling offensively in a big way, but they do have pass rushers.

How much has Baltimore struggled? The game opened at pick 'em and has already moved to the Steelers being favored by 1 1/2 points.

@ Kelvin Beachum was OK at left tackle. Not great, but serviceable.

He's not going to give any push in the running game, but he's better in pass pro than Mike Adams.

With Levi Brown possibly out for the season after suffering a triceps injury in warmups and David Johnson suffering what Mike Tomlin said could be a significant wrist injury, perhaps the Steelers need to look at using Mike Adams - who is a solid run blocker - as a tight end as they planned early on with Beachum.

Steelers-Jets game day thread

Landry Jones, Markus Wheaton, Isaac Redman, Chris Carter, Cody Wallace, Mike Adams and Hebron Fangupo are inactive today for the Steelers.

Santonio Holmes and CB Dee Millner, a pair of starters, are inactive for the Jets.

It's a nice fall day here in Jersey, slightly chilly. There's a mild wind, but it does not appear to be anything major.

Who I like, Jets version

The Steelers are 1-point underdogs Sunday in their game against the Jets, but the game opened Monday with Pittsburgh as 2-point favorites. It swung the other way after the Jets beat Atlanta, with New York then being favored by 2.

But the money has started heading back in Pittsburgh's direction.

The reason? There are several.

First, the Steelers are 15-2 against rookie quarterbacks with Dick LeBeau as defensive coordinator. That's a pretty serious trend.

Also, the Jets will be without not only Santonio Holmes, but Kellen Winslow as well. Holmes has a hamstring injury, while Winslow was suspended by the NFL for PED use Friday. Those two have combined for three of New York's seven touchdown passes and Winslow was the team's leading receiver.

Finally, cornerback Antonio Rodgers-Cromartie is questionable to play after hyperextending his knee in practice this week. He hadn't been playing well, but he's the best the Jets have.

The Steelers should have an easy time moving the ball in the air, especially if the Jets try to go zero coverage as they did last week against Atlanta.

Take Pittsburgh to win this one, 24-17

More shakeups for Steelers

It appears that William Gay will start at cornerback ahead of Cortez Allen on Sunday against the Jets, though Allen will stay in the nickel.

Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said today that Allen is still feeling the effects of his ankle injury, using that as an excuse for the switch.

But Gay has played well, possibly to the chagrin of the Gay bashers.

@ The additions of Stevenson Sylvester and Will Allen this week has more to do with replacing injured players than it does bringing back a pair of older players.

Sylvester was signed to replace Kion Wilson, who was nursing a hamstring injury. Allen, released by the Cowboys earlier this week despite starting a couple of games for them, was brought in because Damon Cromartie-Smith was dealing with a hip injury.

Both know the defense and what's expected of them.

@ So Mike Tomlin has now banned all table games in the locker room. Finally.

I've never been a fan of the games in the locker room - even though few of the players took part in them.

It seemed strange when the veteran players said those who had less than four years experience couldn't take part - even though it really wasn't enforced. The games basically sat unplayed for the past couple of weeks.

@ I expect Levi Brown to get the start at left tackle on Sunday. That will give the Steelers the option of using Kelvin Beachum as their primary backup at all positions.

Wednesday news, notes

Ramon Foster was a full participant in today's practice and said he feels good about his chances to return to play after suffering a pectoral strain two weeks ago against Minnesota.

Thursday, however, will be the key day for Foster. After giving his chest a full workout Wednesday, how he feels the next day will determine whether he plays or not.

@ The Steelers again rotated  Levi Brown and Kelvin Beachum at left tackle - Beachum is listed as the starter - and Jones could be the starter if he grasps things quickly enough.

I spoke with Jones after practice and asked him if he and Beachum rotating at left tackle during Sunday's game at New York might be a possibility.

He looked at me like I had three heads?

"I've never heard of a rotation at tackle," Brown said.

I explained to him that he hadn't been here long enough and that the Steelers had been doing that already this season.

Brown seems like a pretty bright guy and said that he felt tackle was easier to pick up with a new team than center. That seems to bode well, since Fernando Velasco was able to pick things up quickly enough to be ready to start in a week.

That would be crucial for the Steelers. If for some reason Foster is unable to play, they could move Beachum to guard rather than playing Guy Whimper. Then again, Whimper is working exclusively at guard, while Beachum is playing offensive tackle, so that might factor in as well.

@ Ryan Clark today attempted to clarify his statements about Ben Roethlisberger made last week on ESPN's First Take, then basically said the same thing all over again.

Clark's statement that the Steelers can't afford for Roethlisberger to take as many chances as he usually does because the team isn't playing well enough to make up for mistakes ring true.

But he's also been part of the issue on a defense that is missing too many tackles.

@ Ziggy Hood said he was surprised when defensive line coach John Mitchell told him he had been demoted.

Hood was playing at a decent level - not horrible, not great.

I'm sure that replacing Hood with Cam Heyward isn't going to fix all of the problems the Steelers have had on defense. But a message had to be sent.

Tuesday with Tomlin

With an 0-4 record, the Steelers have had their share of struggles. And usually when you struggle, changes are in order.

For the Steelers, that means Kelvin Beachum at LT and Cameron Heyward in the starting lineup in place of Ziggy Hood at defensive end.

Will this solve all the problems? No.

But it does show that the team is willing to make a change.

Beachum is listed as the starter ahead of newly acquired Levi Brown. Mike Adams, the previous starter, is listed as No. 3 at LT and RT. Beachum, by the way, is still listed as the backup at center.

Heyward has been playing well, well enough to push Hood out of the starting lineup. Hood hasn't been terrible this season, but Heyward has been markedly better. They need some production out of that spot.

@ Only Markus Wheaton, with his broken finger, is listed as out this week.

Ramon Foster will continue to work towards playing this week despite his strained pectoral muscle.

@ For accounting purposes, the conditional pick the Steelers traded for Brown to Arizona comes in 2015, not 2014.

The condition - though I'm not positive on this - likely revolves around how many starts Brown makes for the Steelers over the next two seasons. He is under contract for next season as well.

Steelers back at work

The Steelers returned to practice on Monday and guard Ramon Foster was able to go on a limited basis.

That's good news for the Steelers. Foster did not practice at all last week after straining a pectoral muscle in the 34-27 loss to Minnesota last week in London.

With Kelvin Beachum expected to start at left tackle, the Steelers were faced with the option of putting Guy Whimper, newly acquired Levi Brown, or even Mike Adams at left guard if Foster wasn't ready to go.

He thinks he will be.

@ The Steelers haven't forced a turnover this season. But that could change this weekend against the Jets.

The Jets are one of just two teams - the Giants are the other - who have more turnovers than the Steelers this season.

Pittsburgh has 11, the Jets 12 heading into Monday night's game at Atlanta, and the Giants an astounding 20.

Who said New Yorkers aren't the giving sort?

@ Rookie wideout Markus Wheaton is out this weekend. He won't have the stitches removed from his broken finger until next Monday.

Division floundering along

The Cleveland Browns currently sit in first place in the AFC North at 3-2 following Thursday night's win over Buffalo, but lost quarterback Brian Hoyer, who had started all three of their wins, to a torn ACL while doing so.

Cincinnati (2-2) hosts 4-0 New England this week after losing to the Browns last week, while Baltimore (2-2) is at 3-1 Miami.

The Steelers are, of course, off this weekend. BTW, I have been asked why they didn't practice more at 0-4. The new CBA mandates four consecutive days off during the bye week. So if they had practiced Thursday, they would not have been able to do so Monday.

Next week, Cincinnati heads to Buffalo, which beat Baltimore at Ralph Wilson last week, while Baltimore hosts Green Bay and Cleveland hosts Detroit. The Steelers are at New York against the Jets.

Why do I bring this up?

People keep wondering why I have remained optimistic about the Steelers' chances to win the North this season despite their 0-4 start.

I keep looking at the schedule and, if the Steelers can cut their turnover ratio down, I see a bunch of wins coming up - at least three in the next four games.

With Le'Veon Bell now back, the Steelers have a running game to take some pressure off of Ben Roethlisberger.

And the most glaring number of Pittsburgh's 0-4 start is minus-11 in turnover ratio. If that were to continue, the Steelers would crush the NFL record for worst turnover ratio in league history of minus-30 held by the 1965 Steelers and 1948 Chicago Rockets.

In other words, that's not very likely.

A 9-7 record is very likely to win the AFC North this season based on current level of play of all the teams in the division. And once you get into the playoffs, anything is possible.

The last team to make the playoffs after an 0-4 start was the 1992 San Diego Chargers, who interestingly enough, also turned the ball over 11 times in their first four games.

San Diego rattled off wins in 11 of its final 12 games. This is not to say these Steelers are going to do that.

But there is enough talent on the roster to win eight or nine games the rest of the way.

Steelers trade for Brown

The Steelers on Wednesday made a deal with Arizona for offensive tackle Levi Brown for a conditional draft pick, less than 24 hours after Baltimore made a deal with Jacksonville for LT Eugene Monroe for two third-day draft picks.

The move would appear to spell the end of the Mike Adams at left tackle experiment for the Steelers.

Adams was not only abused in last week's 34-27 loss to Minnesota, he looked lost in doing so.

Brown isn't a great player, but he's a solid run blocker. He's been skewered in Arizona over the years, but a large part of that is because the Cardinals took him with the fifth pick in the first round of the 2007 draft, passing on Adrian Peterson.

Brown is at least as competent as Max Starks had proven to be over the previous five or six years. But the Steelers decided to allow Starks to leave as a free agent. He's since been signed and released by two different teams - a sign that perhaps his skills are declining.

Brown is due to earn $3.6 for the remainder of this season. Arizona will pay $2.4 million of that, with the Steelers responsible for $840,000.

@ Rookie wide receiver Markus Wheaton had surgery to repair the broken pinky on his right hand, an injury suffered in the loss to the Vikings.

Mike Tomlin won't comment on when Wheaton might be able to return, saying only that he would be further assessed when his incision healed.

Post-Minnesota thoughts

It's easy to single out Mike Adams for the poor game that he had Sunday in London. Jared Allen has done that to a number of tackles in the NFL.

But it's way too early to give up on Adams. It's easy to forget that he was making his eighth career start Sunday against the Vikings. And it was just his fourth start at left tackle.

Was he bad? Absolutely.

But there have been other tackles who have struggled - who can forget John Jackson vs. Pat Swilling of New Orleans? - and turned into solid players.

Jackson was so bad in the aforementioned game that he was yanked mid-series. And after the game, he was walking around the locker room wishing teammates luck because he thought he would be released.

He went on to have a long and illustrious career.

Adams was also much better in the second half. The Steelers got him some help more consistently, but there were times when he was blocking Allen one-on-one and got the job done. In fact, Allen was practically invisible in the second half.

@ On the other side, Marcus Gilbert played a very solid game.

Some have suggested flipping the two again. I wouldn't. Let Gilbert settle in. He played well last week against Chicago and followed that up with another solid effort. Don't mess with that.

@ This offense will get better. The threat of Le'Veon Bell and the running game had the Vikings biting hard on play-action plays. We haven't seen that in a while with the Steelers.

@ Dick LeBeau's defense doesn't work if the cornerbacks and safeties don't come up and make solid tackles.

Cortez Allen missed Greg Jennings twice on the same play on his 70-yard catch-and-run on what was a 5-yard hitch. That can't happen.

Allen has shown to be a solid tackler in the past, so perhaps he was rusty after missing most of the preseason and the past two games.

@ The lack of turnovers is becoming laughable. The Steelers dropped a couple of interceptions - actually, Ike Taylor did, which is nothing new.

But even when they get a great play such as LaMarr Woodley's strip-sack, the ball squirts the wrong way.

@ Opponents are exploiting Vince Williams with their running game. They're going right at him and in back-to-back weeks, it's added up to big running plays.

Everyone complained about Larry Foote. He's too this or not enough that. But Foote was almost always in position.

Williams doesn't have that seasoning yet.

@ As bad as things are right now, the Steelers are two games out of first place thanks to a mediocre AFC North.

You could make the argument that they're better off right now than they would be if they were 2-2 and Cleveland, Baltimore and Cincinnati were all 4-0.

They'd still be the same two games out of first place, but the other teams would be playing well. Those teams are not. They're struggling as well.

That's why I'm not writing this season off just yet. A wildcard is likely out of the equation. But 9-7 or even 8-8 might win the North this year.

Steelers-Vikings game day thread

Cheerio from London.

The Steelers' inactives today are Landry Jones, Derek Moye, Isaac Redman, Isaiah Green, Antwon Blake, Cody Wallace and Hebron Fangupo.

Redman is a bit of a surprise. But with Le'Veon Bell back today, there's no room on the roster for a running back who isn't going to help on special teams a great deal.

The weather here is overcast. Sun was shining earlier. But the temps have dropped steadily.

Field looks great, however.

Thoughts for a long week

I'll be out of the country for a while starting tomorrow, so I've had to get a lot of writing done ahead of time before skipping across the pond.

But it was an eventful day in the locker room.

First of all, Ben Roethlisberger denied that he was in any way taking a shot at rookie running back Le'Veon Bell with his statements Tuesday on his radio show when he said he wasn't sure what to expect from Bell and then compared his work to Heath Miller's.

"That’s more just me knowing Heath," Roethlisberger said. "I meant that as a compliment to Heath, just saying that I know Heath and have been around Heath a long time. He’s the second-oldest guy on the offense other than me and J-Co. It was more about me saying I know Heath and I don’t know Le’Veon enough to know if he can play through pain? How much pain can he play through. I just don’t know him well enough. That’s all that was meant from those comments.

"I didn’t even know that it created anything. I’ll go say something to him. It was more of a compliment to Heath and less about knowing that guy. Next year, I’ll probably be able to talk about him better."

Bell didn't take offense.

"I’m a young guy, a rookie," he said. "I haven’t been there. I haven’t spent a season with them. They don’t know what I’m about yet because I haven’t played. I just want to show them what I’m about."

@ So much for the overblown games in the locker room thing.

The pool table in the locker room got a new - gold - felt on Wednesday. The first guys to play on it? Veteran Larry Foote and third-year cornerback Curtis Brown.

Of course, the "big" news last week was that players who hadn't been in the league four seasons weren't going to be permitted to play the locker room games, per order of the team's veterans.

So much for that.

@ I don't expect to see the Steelers rotating Kelvin Beachum at offensive tackle with Mike Adams and Marcus Gilbert this week as Mike Tomlin did last week.

That move was decided early in the week last week and had nothing to do with the play in last Sunday's game. The Steelers didn't rotate in the second half and the message has been sent.

Adams and Gilbert played reasonably well in a tough situation Sunday. The Steelers dropped back to pass and Roethlisberger was sacked three times - despite Chicago knowing they had to throw it after falling behind 24-3 and 27-10.

@ With Cortez Allen back, I would expect that William Gay will go back to the nickel role, with rookie safety Shamarko Thomas heading to the bench.

The big nickel package will probably bring safety Robert Golden onto the field.

@ Vince Williams said today that he took snaps with the first-team defense at inside linebacker. Nothing surprising there. He's taken the majority of the snaps in Foote's place, even though Kion Wilson has started.

The Steelers weren't sure about Williams' run-stopping ability, but he's showing that he can be a thumper.

@ Since I'm going to be away from the computer, you'll get my prediction now.

I think the Steelers finally find a way to force a turnover or two by Christian Ponder, who, like Roethlisberger, has accounted for seven turnovers himself this season.

And I think Roethlisberger will take better care of the football.

Minnesota has also given up nine - count em - nine TD passes, including six to opposing tight ends.

Take the Steelers, who are favored by one, 24-17.

Bell likely to play this week

Working off the same time frame that they used in bringing tight end Heath Miller back last week, the Steelers will bring running back Le'Veon Bell back this week Mike Tomlin said at his press conference Tuesday.

Miller was on a "pitch count" last week, seeing action in 39 of 63 plays for the Steelers, who wanted to ease him back into things after a week and a half of practices.

Tomlin said the team feels better about Bell's conditioning than it did Miller's, so there is a possibility that he could see more than 2/3s of the offensive snaps.

Cortez Allen will also be back this week for the Steelers after missing the past two weeks with an ankle injury.

Tomlin said the Steelers are as healthy as they've been this season - the Maurkice Pouncey loss not withstanding.

Will that add up to any wins? We'll see.

@ Tomlin also said he met with guard Ramon Foster Tuesday morning to urge Foster to become more of a leader among the line group.

Post Chicago thoughts

You have to give it to the 2013 Steelers, they keep finding interesting ways to lose games.

I had to dig deep into the recesses to remember a loss like this one, a game where the Steelers handed a team 23 points - it would have been 24 had Troy Polamalu not blocked a meaningless extra point - to lose a home game.

The closest I could come was a 2002 game at Heinz Field against Houston in which the Texans scored their only touchdowns on turnovers in a 24-6 win over the Steelers. Pittsburgh dominated that game, outgaining the Texans, 422-47 in total yards.

This game wasn't quite that bad in terms of domination. The Bears certainly did some good things offensively. But this was once again a case of the Steelers beating the Steelers.

@ I keep coming back to Ben Roethlisberger needing to play like the franchise quarterback that he is.

In three games, Roethlisberger is responsible for seven turnovers - remember, the fumble in the opener was later charged by Elias to him, not running back Isaac Redman. That puts Roethlisberger on pace to account for 37 turnovers this season in 16 games.

Of course, the way the offensive line is playing, Roethlisberger won't make it through 16 games.

@ I thought it was strange that the Steelers were rotating Kelvin Beachum at RT and LT in practice with the starters this week.

Who knew they were going to do during the game as well?

The next time a coach gives me the old, "These guys need to play together to be given a chance to gel," line, I'm going to laugh in his face.

@ I understand why the Steelers are doing it though. They can't decide who's worse, Marcus Gilbert or Mike Adams.

And therein lies the problem. When you're paying your quarterback 1/10th of your salary cap as the Steelers now are, you have to try to get by with younger - read, cheaper - players at other positions.

If it's just one player on an offensive line, you can cover for that player as he grows. But right now, the Steelers have three guys learning on the fly - though in year three, Gilbert should be better than he has been.

That also doesn't explain away Ramon Foster allowing blitzers to run right by him while he steps out to block a guy who's already engaged.

There just seems to be a complete disconnect.

@ On the plus side, the running game was worlds better than it had been, so there's that.

@ You look into the eyes of some of the veteran guys in this locker room, ones who have been around for a while, and you see shock. They can't believe things have gotten this bad.

@ I'm still not convinced the Steelers' season is lost. Beat Minnesota next Sunday in London and it will certainly lift a weight.

That will put them at 1-3 heading into the bye with Cortez Allen and Le'Veon Bell coming back - I don't think they'll play Bell this week.

In 2002, the Steelers started the season 1-3 and rebounded to finish 10-5-1.

Can this team still win 10 games? I saw enough Sunday night to think it can - if it stops turning the ball over.

The Steelers are now minus-9 for the season and haven't forced a single turnover.

But Christian Ponder awaits, with rookie Geno Smith up next. The remaining schedule also includes a pair of games against the Browns, one against Oakland and Buffalo with rookie quarterback E.J. Manuel.

If the Steelers can get a couple of wins under their belt, it could turn things around for them.

This lack of turnovers can't continue for the defense. Even in 2011, when they forced just 15 turnovers all season, the Steelers did not have a stretch like the current one, where they've gone three games without sniffing a turnover.

They're due.

Steelers-Bears game-day thread

The Steelers have Landry Jones, Derek Moye, Le'Veon Bell, Cortez Allen, Isaiah Green, Cody Wallace and Hebron Fangupo inactive for tonight's game.

Felix Jones will get the start at running back. Jarvis Jones will start at OLB. I would also expect the offense to be announced this week so that Heath Miller can be announced as the starting tight end.

No changes in the starting lineup for the Bears.

Who I like, Chicago version

To show just how quickly things can change in the NFL, the AFC North was considered one of the better divisions in the NFL the past couple of seasons.

Why not? In Cincinnati, Baltimore and Pittsburgh, it boasted three teams that were playoff contenders in each of those seasons, with the Ravens winning the Super Bowl last season.

Two weeks into 2013, however, the entire division is at .500 or worse and oddsmakers don’t think that’s going to change a lot. All four teams are underdogs this weekend, including the Steelers, Ravens and Bengals at home.

It’s the first time since the Ravens moved to Baltimore in 1996 that they and the Steelers are both home underdogs in the same weekend,

In other words, it wouldn’t be surprising if the AFC North leader was 1-2 after this week.

At 0-2, the Steelers would need a win to get to that record.

And from what they’ve shown in the first two weeks, scoring 19 points, it might be a stretch for them to get there.

Obviously, what the Steelers have done thus far, hasn’t worked. That’s why you can look for the Steelers to try to do something a little different this week.

With tight end Heath Miller returning this week after missing the first two games while recovering from a torn ACL, the Steelers finally have all of the pieces available in their passing game.

And they intend to use them.

Look for the Steelers, who are 3-point underdogs, to spread the field with multiple receiver packages and Miller split wide as well.

With the running game producing just 75 yards in the first two games, the Steelers will try to move the ball with a short passing game instead.

And if the defense can limit Chicago’s multi-faceted attack and create a turnover or two – something it has not done yet this season – the Steelers will not only cover, they will win it outright.

Take Pittsburgh, 20-17

Almost nine months to the day after suffering a torn ACL in a loss to Cincinnati, Steelers tight end Heath Miller is set to make his return to the lineup for the team in their game Sunday night against Chicago.

Miller made it through the entire week of practice for the Steelers (0-2) this week and is listed as probable to see his first action of the season against the Bears (2-0).

The return of Miller, the Steelers’ MVP and leading receiver in 2012, could boost an offense that has scored just 19 points in its first two games.

Miller’s return wasn't the only good news for the Steelers. Rookie running back Le’Veon Bell, out the past month with a mid-foot sprain, made it through a second consecutive practice Friday without issue. Bell, listed as a co-starter at running back with Isaac Redman, is listed as questionable to play this week, but is getting closer to a return.

After being limited Wednesday and Thursday with a heel injury, rookie linebacker Jarvis Jones returned to practice Friday and is probable as well. Jones made his first start last week against Cincinnati.

Cornerback Cortez Allen, who sat out against the Bengals with an ankle sprain, is out again this week.

For Chicago, Pro Bowl cornerback Charles Tillman returned to practice on a limited basis Friday after sitting out Wednesday and Thursday with a knee injury. He is listed as questionable to play against the Steelers.

Polamalu's appearance on Sesame Street video

Troy Polamalu made an appearance on Sesame Street.

Here's the link to the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Ig7X4wmPs

Wednesday news and notes

Heath Miller looked good running around on the practice field today and should really be a boost to the Pittsburgh offense.

Miller, however, admits that he's a little nervous about the first time he has to block at the line of scrimmage on his surgically repaired knee.

Remember, Miller was injured last year against Cincinnati while blocking. And while he can simulate game-type stuff in the passing game, doing so in run blocking or pass blocking just isn't something that's done a lot - and certainly not at game speed - in practice.

@ Le'Veon Bell was able to go out and do some things today as well.

It was his first time running around with his teammates since suffering a mid-foot sprain about a month ago.

Bell looked spry, but again, like the situation with Miller, there's nobody hitting him, so he's basically just running. But it's a first step.

@ If you haven't noticed this week, all four AFC North teams are dogs this week, with only Cleveland being on the road.

Cincinnati has the best overall talent in the division, but the quarterback is iffy. The Bengals will lose to Green Bay at home this week.

Like the Steelers, the Ravens are having offensive issues right now, and that was before Ray Rice went down with a hip flexor injury last week. Baltimore will lose at home to Houston.

And the Browns just punted their season. They might not win a game.

I saw a much different practice for the Steelers today. Guys were running around and upbeat. Maybe they're just trying to convince themselves that they can turn this 0-2 start around, but this division is certainly winnable.

In fact, I expect the Steelers to beat the Bears at home this week and then handle Minnesota in a neutral site game.

That would put them at 2-2 heading into their bye. And also probably put them in a tie for first place in what is looking like a weak division.

Miller expected back this week

The Steelers will get a boost this week with the return of tight end Heath Miller. Running back Le'Veon Bell is also expected to return to practice - at least on a limited basis - inching the Steelers ever so slightly back toward having improved offensive weapons.

Miller coming back will be huge. Ben Roethlisberger looks out of sync right now without Miller on the field. Adding another target - especially one who has been with him so long and knows the scramble drill as well as anyone - will be a big boost.

It should also help open up some of the other receivers and the running game.

With Miller on the field, opposing defenses won't have the luxury of walking a safety into the box to stop the running game or blitz.

@ While Bell won't play this week, it appears that Felix Jones will likely get the start this week at running back.

I thought Jones did some nice things Monday night, making something out of a couple of runs on which there really wasn't much there.

Post-Cincinnati thoughts

Two games into the 2013 season, the Steelers are 0-2 and the quarterback has a passer rating of 74.8 thanks greatly to two horrible interceptions.

"The quarterback's got to play better, and he will," Ben Roethlisberger said after the Steelers dropped a 20-10 decision to the Bengals.

When?

Roethlisberger is supposed to be a franchise quarterback. Franchise quarterbacks are supposed to make the players around them better.

Look what Tom Brady's cobbling together right now in New England. There isn't a person on the planet who would argue that New England's current crop of receivers and offensive players is better than the group in Pittsburgh.

And yes, the Patriots have struggled as well offensively. But Brady's finding a way to win games.

Roethlisberger has been a big part of the Steelers losing their two games, throwing a pair of ill-advised interceptions.

It's easy to blame the offensive coordinator for this offensive mess right now. But that's just the easy way out.

Nobody in New England is calling for Josh McDaniels to be fired. Are Patriots fans smarter than Steelers fans?

I don't believe that.

Todd Haley hasn't turned the ball over three times - two on fumbles and once on an interception - in the red zone in the first two games.

Sorry, that's on the guys on the field.

You can complain all you like about some of the bad plays. Again, that's easy. Who wants to see Jerricho Cotchery on an end around?

Nothing against Cotchery, but that's not exactly his cup of tea.

But that's one play out of 50.

Right now, the execution offensively just hasn't been there. And that's on the players.

@ That said, I saw some improvement this week. The offensive line did a solid job blocking one of the better defensive lines in the NFL.

And when Felix Jones ran the ball, the Steelers actually had some success, gaining 37 yards on 10 carries. Don't know why Jones wasn't used more in the second half - at least early when it was still 10-10.

It has quickly become obvious that Isaac Redman isn't going to get it done running behind this line.

@ Cotchery, by the way, had one more tackle in this game than James Harrison.

@ I expect the Steelers to come out and beat the Bears at home next week.

What gives me that idea?

I think you'll see Heath Miller make his return.

Miller's workload picked up in practice later in the week last week and the next step is to get him some game action.

Even if Miller is only used as a receiver, it would be a bonus.

Right now, opponents are pressing Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders at the line of scrimmage and walking a safety into the box. They don't fear the Steelers enough to really double anyone.

Miller will command attention in the middle of the field, opening up running lanes.

@ Markus Wheaton got onto the field for a handful of plays Monday night. The next step will be to try throwing him the ball a couple of times.

@ Ike Taylor played a heck of a game on A.J. Green, who might be the best receiver in the league. He's at least in the conversation.

But Taylor blanketed him throughout the game.

@ I seriously don't get all the angst among Steelers fans about losing this game. Losing to Tennessee at home, I get. That's a game you have to win.

Losing to a very good Cincinnati team on the road, that one was kind of expected.

I know, I know, the Steelers always beat the Bengals in Cincinnati. Just not this year at this time.

But I fully expect the Steelers to win the rematch in Pittsburgh.

With so many new faces, I expect this season to be a work in progress. The Steelers will get better as this season goes on.

And it's obvious that Andy Dalton still isn't real confident with what he's seeing with the Pittsburgh defense.

@ At some point, some of these balls that are being thrown high or being tipped into the air have to land in a Pittsburgh defender's hands, right?

There were three or four passes Dalton threw that could have been picks. The law of averages has to come into play at some point.

Game-day thread

The Steelers have Landry Jones, Shayne Graham, Le'Veon Bell, Cortez Allen, Cody Wallace and Heath Miller inactive for tonight's game.

Fernando Velasco is officially listed as the starter at center.

With Graham down, Shaun Suisham will kick.

Jarvis Jones will also start tonight, but Jason Worilds will also see time at ROLB and LOLB.