In the Steelers first preseason game Saturday night against the Detroit Lions, there were six players who did not get any playing time at all. Below is a break down of those six players and there current status going forward into the second preseason game versus the New York Giants.
QB Ben Roethlisberger – Ben sat out on what you would call a coaches decision. Byron Leftwich and Dennis Dixon needed the work and they got it. Mike Tomlin knows Ben has had a great camp thus far and getting reps in week 1 of the preseason was not necessary. Ben will get work this coming Saturday against the Giants and early word is he will start the game. Regardless if he does start or not is insignificant, but I would expect him to get at least a couple of series with the first team offensive line in front of him.
LB Jason Worilds – Worilds was held out because he was just getting over a hamstring injury and missed enough time early in camp that Tomlin did not think it would be fair to him to put him out on the field. word was he could of played if he had to. Tomlin said this past week that he is back working fully and should see extended time against the Giants.
T Chris Scott – 5th round pick Chris Scott remains on the active physically unable to perform list as he recovers from surgery to repar a broken foot. By all accounts Scott is not close to practicing and seems destined to miss all of training camp as expected. The Steelers have a while until they need to decide if he will be placed on reserve PUP or injured reserve. If place on the reserve PUP list to start the season, he will miss the first 6 weeks of the season, but will not count as a 53 man roster spot. At the end of 6 weeks the Steelers have a three week window to activate Scott to the 53 or place him on injured reserve.
DT Steve McLendon – McLendon suffered a MCL injury early on in camp and Tomlin revealed on Tuesday that the defensive tackle needed a procedure on the knee and is still recovering. The Steelers will likely make a decision on him soon and perhaps will waive him injured or place him on reserve PUP. The best case scenario for McLendon would be to get playing time in the final two preseason games and fight for a practice squad spot. Right now that seems like a long shot as he needs to practice first and will indeed sit out this week against the Giants.
FB Dwayne Wright – No word was given on why Wright was not given time against the Lions other than the fact that he was last in line to get any leftover snaps which were non existent. Wright is not likely to make the first cut and is merely a camp body. He may get a couple of reps versus the Giants especially if rookie Jonathan Dwyer is still nursing a shoulder injury, but it is not written in stone.
WR Isaiah Williams – Williams was the wide receiver signed when Limas Sweed was placed on IR with an Achilles injury. The Steelers wanted to give as many reps as possible to both rookie receivers Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown. Williams is just the odd man out in fighting to get any reps with draft picks at the position and several other receivers on the roster. He likely will be out the door in the first roster cut down on August 31st as teams get down to 75 players.
