Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said during his Tuesday press conference that the door is open for running back Isaac Redman (ankle), running back Rashard Mendenhall (knee), linebacker James Harrison (knee) and linebacker Jason Worilds (wrist) to play Sunday night in the season opener against the Denver Broncos.
Tomlin ruled out guard David DeCastro (knee) and linebacker Stevenson Sylvester (knee) for the game.
While Tomlin left the door open for Mendenhall, it is unlikely that he will play as he is still likely a few more weeks from being game ready. Redman sat out the preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers with an ankle injury which is being monitored. Regardless if Redman plays or not, I would expect Jonathan Dwyer to get plenty of action in Denver.
Both Harrison and Worilds practiced for the first time on Monday and both looked good from a conditioning and assignment standpoint according to Tomlin. The status of both for the game depends on how they respond the rest of the week in practice.
Tomlin mentioned safety Robert Golden (hamstring) and cornerback Curtis Brown (knee) on the list of banged up players, but both practiced on Monday and should be good to go for Sunday night in Denver. Tomlin did confirm that safety Ryan Clark will not suit up Sunday night as expected because of his sickle cell trait.
we will have the full run down of the Tomlin press conference talking points up shortly along with the audio.
