The Steelers host the Miami Dolphins at Heinz field on Sunday. The game airs on CBS at 1:00pm est, with Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts as commentators. The coverage is sporadic this week as you can see on the map below.
H/T the506.com
Blue- Colts @ Bengals
Green- Dolphins @ Steelers
Brown- Bills @ Bucs
Yellow- Raiders @ Jets
Teal- Browns @ Patriots
Purple- Chiefs @ Redskins
Red- Titans @ Broncos (LATE)
RB Le’Veon Bell was back to full participation today, just 6 days out of suffering that devastating hit on Thanksgiving night. OT (TE) Mike Adams was also a full participant today, which is good news considering the OL depth. He’s coming back from an ankle sprain.
In other injury news LT Kelvin Beachum (knee), G David DeCastro (foot), and NT Steve McLendon (ankle) did not practice today. LB LaMarr Woodley (calf) was limited today.
The NFL has announced it’s punishment for Mike Tomlin’s sideline incident. They’ve fined him $100,000. The league is also keeping further punishment on the table. Here’s what the NFL said in regards to that:
“a modification or forfeiture of draft choices will be considered after the final order of the 2014 draft has been determined.”
You read that correctly, they will consider penalizing the Steelers via the draft after the 2014 draft order has been determined. While this seems highly unlikely, it’s pretty astounding that the NFL would issue such a severe, and open ended punishment.
According to ESPN Stats and Info, Mike Tomlin’s $100,000 fine is 4th reported fine of $100K or larger given to an NFL coach. The only bigger fine was Belichick’s $500K fine for Spygate.
Here is Coach Tomlin’s statement regarding the punishment:
“As I stated yesterday, I take full responsibility for my actions, and I apologize for causing negative attention to the Pittsburgh Steelers organization. I accept the penalty that I received.
I will no longer address this issue as I am preparing for an important game this Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.”
Coach Tomlin gave his weekly injury updates earlier today, and the news was mixed. Here is a rundown of what he had to say on the injury front. First, Brett Keisel can be considered out this week due to a setback with his plantar fasciitis. Kelvin Beachum won’t practice in the earlier portion of the week due to his right knee sprain. He can be characterized as questionable this week according to coach Tomlin. David DeCastro has a left foot sprain, he will be limited earlier in the week and should be characterized as questionable as well.
Mike Adams has a left ankle sprain and he will practice in some capacity. Le’Veon Bell practiced in a limited capacity yesterday, and they’ll continue to march him back to health. ‘Of course we’ll go through the necessary checkpoints in terms of his concussion’, said Tomlin. “Thus far it’s been very positive with him”.
Steve McLendon with his left ankle sprain will work in a limited capacity, and we’ll see where the week’s work takes him. The same goes for LaMarr Woodley. He worked partially yesterday and he’ll work partially again on Wednesday.
The Steelers announce that they have signed former Bills C/G David Snow to the active roster. The team was granted a roster exemption for Rashad Butler after he was placed on the exempt list.
Snow (6’4″, 303), was a UDFA originally signed by the Bills in 2012. He played at right guard and center for the Bills during 3 games last year, and appears to be a serviceable lineman.
The Steelers also added CB Brandon Jones to the practice squad today. Jones replaces Devin Smith on the practice squad. Jones was a UDFA who signed with the Patriots this Spring and spent the summer with them before being cut. He recently was on the Giants practice squad before being released last week.
Mike Tomlin addressed the media today during his weekly Tuesday press conference. He strayed from his normal format to make a statement about what happened Thursday night in Baltimore, and to allow reporters to ask any and all questions they had about the incident. The first twenty minutes of his press conference were dedicated to the sideline topic.
“My descriptions of my actions on that play are a lot of things. Embarrassing, inexcusable, illegal, a blunder.” Tomlin said about his actions on the sideline. “I take full responsibility for my actions on that play. I acknowledge that my actions unfortunately became part of the play. I embrace that as head coaches we are held to the highest standards of conduct and I realize that blunder fell woefully short of that expectation.”
Coach Tomlin emphasized that what he did was unintentional. “I think my biggest error on Thursday night is not realizing that play jeopardized the integrity of the game from a perception standpoint,” said Tomlin. “That is a mistake on my part. Since I left the stadium it’s been shocking to me that my actions have been perceived in any way intentional. I would never do such a thing. I would never consider doing such a thing. It was a blunder.”
After addressing the elephant in the room, Coach T. talked about the upcoming Dolphins game, gave injury updates, and more. You can listen below.
Le’Veon Bell spoke to local media today after practice. Bell looks and sounds much better than you’d expect somebody would after taking such a devastating hit just a few days ago.
“I started feeling better the next day. I kept progressively feeling better.”, Bell said about his recovery. When asked what he thought after seeing a replay of the hit he said, “I’m happy, I’m surprised. It was a bad hit…I mean, I just got lucky. I’m happy nothing serious happened. I’m just glad to be OK.”
What did you think about the touchdown being taken back?
“It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.”
Bell participated on a limited basis in practice today. In terms of how much he could do today he said, “just what I could do”. You can listen here:
KDKA has released new video footage of Mike Tomlin’s sideline affair in Baltimore. This video provides a different perspective of the event.
[xyz-ihs snippet=”TomlinSidelineVideo”]
The NFL is expected to make their decision today as to what, if any, punishment will be dealt to Coach Tomlin and the Steelers organization. There has been a lot of tabloidesque ‘junk journalism’ the last few days pertaining to what that punishment might be. It’s sad how easy it is for sports journalists to get away with passing off sensationalistic speculation as legitimate news.
From the NFL site
Some of those news outlets cite the punishment the league handed to the Jets organization 3 years ago after one of their staff members tripped a Dolphins player as a ‘precedent’, which is absurd, because that incident was completely different and far, far worse. I would not be surprised though if Coach Tomlin and the team are fined, and it would also not surprise me if he were sanctioned in some way from the competition committee. Hopefully not, but we’ll find out soon.
The Steelers announced that newly signed OT Rashad Butler has left the team due to personal reasons. No further details are available at this time. The team signed him on Saturday, along with C Eric Olsen. One could only speculate as to why he left so abruptly. I imagine the team will be signing another lineman soon.
https://twitter.com/SteelersPRBurt/status/407543192431493120
The Steelers announced that they have placed C Fernando Velasco on the Reserved/Injured list. Velasco suffered an achilles injury during the loss to the Ravens on Thanksgiving night. The team also announced that they have signed OT Rashard Butler as well as C Eric Olsen. Lastly, CB DeMarcus Van Dyke has been released to make room for the signings.
Eric Olsen is a 6′ 3″, 305 lb center who was drafted by the Broncos in the 2010 draft. Most recently, the 25 year old played with the New Orleans Saints before being released back in September.
Rashad Butler was drafted out of Miami in the 3rd round of the 2006 draft. Butler is listed as 6’4″, 317 lbs, but he suffers from ulcerative colitis, which caused him problems maintaining weight early in his career. The 30 year old tackle spent 4 years with the Texans, and was recently released by the Browns.