Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin held his weekly Tuesday press conference with the media this afternoon. Some of the topics were the performance during the Bengals game, Le’veon Bell’s health, looking ahead at the Ravens, among many other topics. You can listen to the press conference in it’s entirety below.
The Steelers made the anticipated signing of Ben Tate official this afternoon. Tate will wear #34. To make room on the roster for the signing, the team has released WR Justin Brown.
https://twitter.com/BobLabriola/status/550011502363951104
The release of Justin Brown makes a lot of sense, considering he hasn’t worn a helmet since week 6.
The 26 year old Tate has a career total of 540 carries, 2,363 yards rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. He has also seen a fair amount of use in the passing game. He totals 67 pass receptions for a total of 347 yards over the course of his career.
With the status of Le’Veon Bell uncertain, adding a solid veteran this week is prudent. During his press conference, Coach Tomlin said that he believes Tate can contribute this Saturday, but it remains to be seen just how ready he can be with such short prep time.
The Steelers are having former Browns running back Ben Tate in for a visit today according to ESPN.
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/549911634765156352
Tate was drafted by the Texans in the 2nd round of the 2010 draft. He served a back up role behind Arian Foster in Houston until signing with the Browns as a free agent this year. While not an explosive back, Tate is a solid back up. The beginning of his season in Cleveland was hampered by a knee sprain, but he did manage 123 rushing yards in week 5. He hinted at times that the Browns run blocking was sub-par, and complained about sharing the work load with rookie running backs. The Browns waived him in the middle of November.
While Le’Veon Bell’s MRI showed no ligament damage yesterday, it’s still likely that he will not be able to play on Saturday night. If Bell has to sit out, the Steelers don’t have a lot of options aside from rookie running backs Josh Harris and Dri Archer.
Let’s not forget about Will Johnson. While he’s served more as a tight end, the veteran fullback is also an option for getting some carries. Todd Haley said in the beginning of the season that Will Johnson would serve as an emergency running back if Bell was hurt, so he could be part of the game plan.
According to Jason LaCanfora, the team isn’t planning on having any other running backs in for tryouts.
https://twitter.com/JasonLaCanfora/status/549934794466160641
The Steelers got some very good news this afternoon. Le’Veon Bell’s MRI showed no signs of ligament damage.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/549650332415164419
This doesn’t guarantee he’ll play this Saturday obviously, but this is tremendous news after he took such a scary hit to the knee last night.
With hyper-extension injuries pain and swelling is usually worse the day after, so it should be expected that Bell might have difficulty getting around. According to one reporter, he could barely walk earlier today.
https://twitter.com/dlolleyor/status/549613667164377090
The amount of swelling, pain, and stiffness and how Bell’s knee responds to treatment throughout the week will determine whether or not he’ll be able to play on Saturday.
https://twitter.com/L_Bell26/status/549625696646365184
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and Bengals defensive back Reggie Nelson had a spirited exchange last night after the Steelers won the division title.
You would think the conversation had to do with Nelson’s hit to Le’Veon Bell’s knee earlier in the night.
According to coach Tomlin, the argument had nothing to do with it. “He was talking about some he-said, she-said type of a deal,” said Tomlin after the game. “I don’t know what he was talking about.” When asked specifically if they talked about the hit, Tomlin said no. “I guess a teammate told him that I said something regarding him. That’s untrue. Ask him. I have a lot of respect for Reggie Nelson. He’s a good player.”
Here’s the HD video of their exchange. At about 10 seconds in, you can hear Nelson saying, “that’s what he said you said!”, which would confirm Coach Tomlin’s “he said, she said” statement.
Edit- If you can’t view the above video, you can also see it here at Deadspin.
Le’Veon Bell left tonight’s game early with what looked to be a scary knee injury. As you can see in the picture below.
Afterwards, Bell was able to leave the field on his own, but was pretty distraught on the sideline while trainers looked him over.
After the game, Coach Tomlin relayed some positive news. “Structurally it appears to be fine,” said Tomlin. “Thankfully it doesn’t appear to be anything major.” The team is waiting on MRI results to see if he has any ligament or connective tissue damage. Passing initial stability tests is a good sign of course, though.
According to Dale Lolley, some of his teammates expect to have him on the field for the Ravens game.
https://twitter.com/dlolleyor/status/549433964881264640
After the game, Bell left the lockers without an air cast or crutches, which is very good news.
https://twitter.com/ScottBrown_ESPN/status/549441076608909313
We’ll have to play the waiting game for a day or two before we hear more.
The Steelers beat the Bengals for the second time this year on their way to the division title. By doing so, they took the number 3 seed and will host the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, January 3rd at 8:15 pm.
Tickets for the game against the Ravens will go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday at the ticket office at Heinz Field and online at Ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000.
It’s worth noting that the Steelers have never lost to a divisional opponent in the playoffs, and are 3 and 0 against the Ravens in the postseason.
According to NBC’s Michele Tafoya, Ben Roethlisberger is battling a stomach bug tonight. The Steelers starting quarterback was not on the field for warmups. Landry Jones is inactive tonight, and Bruce Gradkowski was the only QB on the field for warmups.
The Steelers are calling it a minor stomach virus, and plan to start Roethlisberger. Hopefully, he’s taken as much Imodium as physically possible.
With just under an hour until kickoff, here is a look at the inactive list for tonight’s divisional showdown against Cincinnati.
Steelers
QB L. Jones, WR J. Brown, CB Ike Taylor, SS Troy Polamalu, DE C. Geathers, G C. Hubbard, and TE M. Palmer.
Bengals:
QB McCarron, CB Newman, C Johnson, OT Hawkinson, DT Still, WR Wright, and WR Little.
The Baltimore Ravens have clinched the number 6 spot today with a win over the Cleveland Browns. After winning 20-10 today, the Ravens will travel to Heinz Field next weekend if the Steelers win tonight. The Ravens will be getting DT Haloti Ngata back from suspension this week.
If the Steelers lose, they will travel to Indianapolis to take on the Colts. In the odd event the Steelers should tie tonight, they will travel to Cincinnati to face the Bengals for a third time this year.