Coach Tomlin held his weekly press conference with the media today. He gave injury updates, discussed the challenges the team faces against the Lions, the Ben trade rumors, Jonathan Dwyer, the Tight Ends, and a lot more. Obviously, you can listen below.
This week’s depth chart is out, and it isn’t very different from last week. One change of note is TE Michael Palmer moving up to the #2 spot behind Heath Miller. Palmer saw playing time this Sunday on offense against the Bills, and David Paulson, who is now listed at #3, did not.
Regarding Palmer’s advancement on the depth chart, Coach Tomlin said, “Mike’s been earning it in practice. (He’s) been very consistent…doing a nice job and we want the reps on Sunday to represent that, and that’s why he’s been given more opportunity -and will- if he takes advantage of it.”
You can view the chart below.
The Steelers defense did a great job of shutting down the Bills run game on Sunday. Spiller, who ran for 116 yards last week against the Chiefs, was held to only 23 yards. Here is a breakdown of the Bills running attempts by direction. Normally I wouldn’t refer to gaps by left and right, but it works best for the chart. If you have a question, don’t hesitate to ask.
[table id=31 /]
Below are the play counts for offense and defense during yesterday’s win over the Bills. Some noteworthy differences on offense- David DeCastro returned from his ankle injury and played every snap. Derek Moye, who saw 12 snaps last week, was inactive yesterday due to the return of Markus Wheaton. Guy Whimper took over for Ramon Foster after he left the game early with a right ankle injury.
On Defense, Keisel, Thomas, and Woodley saw a decrease in snaps due to injuries, while Jarvis Jones saw an increase in playing time from last week.
[table id=29 /]
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Earlier today, Ian Rapoport reported that a source close to the Steelers said that Ben was “extremely frustrated” with the direction the team was going, and was expected by the team to ask for a trade.
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/399557001904410624
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/399557204199899137
The team, Ben’s agent, and Ben himself were quick to respond to these rumors. Here’s what his agent had to say shortly after Rapoport’s report aired~
https://twitter.com/Rep1Sports/statuses/399594815202930688
https://twitter.com/Rep1Sports/statuses/399595246209613824
https://twitter.com/Rep1Sports/statuses/399595505556004864
Art Rooney II released the following statement shortly after~
“Contrary to erroneous reports, the Pittsburgh Steelers have not explored trading quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and have no plans to do so.”
Lastly, here is the audio from Ben’s interview after the game where he vehemently denies the trade rumors, and calls the story BS. Enjoy.
For the Steelers:
QB L.Jones, WR D.Moye, NT H.Fangupo, LB K.Wilson, TE R.Gordon,CB D. Van Dyke, and LB C.Carter.
Curtis Brown is active today for the first time in weeks, as is Markus Wheaton.
For the Bills:
QB Tuel, WR Woods, CB Rogers, RB Wingo, DB Smith, LB Powell, OL McClain.
Most notable inactive for the Bills is Robert Woods, who was expected to be out this week.
Jerry Dulac of the Post-Gazette reports that the Steelers have signed CB DeMarcus Van Dyke after having him in for a workout this morning. DVD spent time on the roster last year, and saw mostly limited snaps on special teams, during a handful of games. He was with the team in training camp this summer, but suffered a serious hamstring injury during the last week of July. Van Dyke is a speedster, who ran a 4.28 40 yd during his 2011 combine. Bringing in Van Dyke is a depth move as Ike Taylor is recovering from concussion symptoms this week.
No real surprises in terms of Steelers inactives today. QB Landry Jones, WR Markus Wheaton, CB Curtis Brown, TE Rich Gordon, LB Kion Wilson, G David DeCastro, and NT Loni Fangupo are inactive.
For the Patriots:
CB Aqib Talib, WR Kenbrell Thompkins, RB Leon Washington, OL Chris Barker, LB Steve Beauharnais, WR Josh Boyce and DE Jaje Bequette. Talib’s absence will be noticed.
David DeCastro has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against New England. Markus Wheaton (finger) and Curtis Brown (non-injury) have also been ruled out for the Patriots game.
Ramon Foster (concussion) and Guy Whimper (knee) are listed as probable. Ramon Foster has to pass one more concussion test tomorrow to be able to play. When asked about the test, Foster said, “I should be pretty sharp”. Guy Whimper will start in DeCastro’s place, and has been preparing to do so in practice.
David DeCastro missed practice again today due to his injured ankle. The hope is that he’ll be able to return to practice on Friday. For what it’s worth, Marcus Gilbert said earlier today that he expects all of the offensive linemen to be ready to go this weekend, including DeCastro.
Markus Wheaton was limited today in practice. His first participation since having surgery on his broken pinky.
Ramon Foster and Guy Whimper practiced fully today. Heath Miller, Ben Roethlisberger, and Steve McLendon were full participants, as well.
Foster passed his first ImPACT test on Tuesday and will need to pass the second one tomorrow to be able to play on Sunday against the Patriots.
Edit- Curtis Brown was excused from practice today for personal reasons.