Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Cortez Allen returned to the practice field Friday in a very limited capacity as he took part in non-contact coverage drills. On Saturday, Allen updated his status as he continues to recover from the minor knee surgery he had just over two weeks ago.
“Yeah, I feel good,” said Allen. “The rehab has been going good and I\’m just out there testing it out to see where I\’m at.”
Allen, who has been out for nearly all of training camp, was asked if he feels like he\’s made progress thus far.
“It\’s still a day-to-day thing, but I do feel that I\’ve made a lot of progress from when it first happened, and I\’m positive about the future of it and getting back on the field,” he said.
Steelers defensive backs coach Carnell Lake told Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Friday that while Allen looked good upon his return to the field, he doesn\’t know whether or not his starting cornerback will play in any of the remaining preseason games. If he doesn\’t, Lake said he\’s not worried about the missed playing time.
“He\’s a very intelligent guy, and I don\’t worry about him from a classroom-understanding part,” Lake told Robinson. “What we have to do is make sure we can go into the season with a healthy Cortez Allen.”
Allen was asked pointblank on Saturday if he thinks he\’ll be ready to play at all during the preseason.
“Like I said, it\’s a day-to-day thing. I just keep working at my rehab and working at getting back on the field in a full-go setting, and we\’ll see how it goes from there,” he said.
While head coach Mike Tomlin didn\’t rule any players out for the Monday night game against the Washington Redskins during his Saturday press conference, it would be pretty shocking if Allen played. Being as he will most likely miss the game, the Steelers will get a chance to take a long look at Curtis Brown, who missed the first preseason game last week against the New York Giants with an ankle injury.
In addition to Brown, Josh Victorian and Isaiah Green also figure to get extended playing time once again as both played more than 40 snaps in the preseason opener.
