Although TJ Watt is still without a new contract, signs point to Watt suiting up Sunday in Buffalo.
“I hope he plays,” Defensive Coordinator Keith Butler said after Thursday’s workout that ended indoors after a brief squall that included hail chased the team off the field. “I hope it’s all said and done at the end of this week and I hope he’s playing for us Sunday afternoon.”
Watt has been working out vigorously on his own but the big question is – will be ready to hit and be hit? “I hope so, yeah,” Butler answered. “It’s always going to be a problem. To me there’s two types of conditioning. One is cardiovascular and the other is what I call hitting shape.
The only way to get in hitting shape is to hit so that’s a little bit tougher.”
“We’ve gotta be smart about how we use him and stuff like that,” he continued. “Hopefully, we’ll have enough where we can put out a decent defense against these guys. It’s going to be a tough game for us.”
Butler expects the Bills to pass the ball as much as 80 percent of the time which will mean a heavy load for his outside linebackers.
Besides Watt’s lack of practice, Alex Highsmith was limited Wednesday then did not practice Thursday which means there’s a good chance that Jamir Jones will be thrust into a more prominent role. “He could be,” Butler admitted. “We’re not going to try to stress him too bad mentally so he’ll be ready to play fast.
“Hopefully, we’ll have the outside guys ready to play, It’s good to have Melvin Ingram. We hope to have 56 (Highsmith), I think 56 will be all right.”
But the Steelers will have to resist the temptation of playing Watt more than maybe he should. “We’ve got to be careful about how many plays he plays,” Butler said. “He’s a veteran, he knows how he feels, He’s going to know how he feels, he knows how he’s going to feel when he starts playing. We just have to be smart enough to know how much is too much and how much is too little so we’ll try to pick a spot in that situation and keep him healthy if we can.”
But, come on coach, how about it? Will Watt get his new deal or not? “I know as much you all do, seriously,” Butler smiled. “That’s all I know.”
Other injury notes:
Both center Kendrick Green and defensive end Tyson Alualu returned to practice in full after being limited on Wednesday.