Goodness knows there are enough contagious diseases going around these days. Groin injuries are not supposed to be among them but you wouldn't know it by the Steelers.
Mike Tomlin revealed during his weekly news conference that Alex Highsmith also came up with a groin injury at some point in the Las Vegas game. TJ Watt, of course, had already left that game in the first half with a groin pull, while Devin Bush and Joe Haden were limited last Friday then scratched Sunday because of – you guessed it – groin injuries.
That makes four starters on defense dealing with an injury that can be as difficult to evaluate as any. "That's why I'm not making any drastic statements about the availability of any of these guys because the degree of the (groin) injury changes the prognosis and the man himself changes the prognosis," Tomlin explained.
In other words, Highsmith's could be less severe that Watt's or vice-versa. "I'll also say this," the coach added, "some more established players can play on less prep than others and we've had that discussion in the past." Meaning that especially guys like Watt and Haden could sit out the entire week and still be cleared to play against the Bengals Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field.
In the meantime, Tomlin will let the week speak to him.
"We'll give guys an opportunity that are close enough to health the opportunity to practice during the course of the week," he continue, "and if they practice we'll look at the quality of that practice or how much they practice and let that be a guide for us in terms of their potential participation."
Right now, the only healthy edge rushers are Melvin Ingram and the inexperienced Jamir Jones. There are two OLBs on the practice squad – second year player Derrek Tuszka out of North Dakota St who spent last season on Denver's practice squad and first year man Delontae Scott who went to SMU and was on Green Bay's practice squad in 2020.
"There are a lot of variables at play," Tomlin concluded, "but (I'm) not overly concerned about it. It's the tightrope that we walk week in and week out.
