The Steelers have a number of players who are nursing some type of minor injury or another. During coach Tomlin’s press conference this afternoon, he somewhat cryptically addressed the injuries and who would play.
“Everyone who’s healthy will participate in the football game. We have a number of guys who aren’t healthy right now, but we’re going to leave the light on for those guys. We’re going to wait until the 11th hour before making decisions whether to play some of them. But our goal is to get full participation to get those guys off to a good start and show what they’re capable of and move forward with the developmental process of our team.”
The players who are considered questionable for Saturday are:
LB Ryan Shazier (knee boo-boo)
NT Steve McLendon (concussion)
LB Jordan Zumwalt (groin)
LB Jarvis Jones (groin)
TE Rob Blanchflower (ankle)
WR Darrius Heyward-Bey (concussion)
If history is any indicator, the first string players who are active Saturday will likely only see 10-15 snaps. With Shazier out, this will mean Vince Williams will get the start, and we’ll get an extended look at Sean Spence. The 2nd stringers are usually in for somewhere between 20-30 plays depending on the flow of the game, depth at the position, and Tomlin’s mood. LB Howard Jones and DE Josh Mauro are a couple other guys who should see additional playing time against the Giants.
Coach Tomlin added that the team will continue to monitor the players who are recovering from injury. “Some of those guys have participated (in practice) in some form or fashion, partially in some instances,” said Tomlin. “We’ll just continue to monitor some of those guys. Our intention is to play those guys if it’s at all possible, but we’ll wait until the last minute to make those judgments.”
