Pittsburgh Steelers running back Isaac Redman only has two carries so far in the preseason but he still sits perched atop the depth chart alongside rookie running back Le\’Veon Bell, who will now be sidelined several weeks after injuring his right foot in the Monday night game against the Washington Redskins. While he missed the Redskins game with a stinger suffered in practice last week, he said Wednesday he\’s ready to play Saturday night against the Kansas City Chiefs and was asked if he thinks he has what it takes to be the starter this year with Bell down.
“Absolutely, I\’m all for it,” said Redman, who has only started six games in his career for the Steelers. “I\’m just going to come to work and do what I do everyday, do what I\’ve done my past years. Get ready and prepare myself.”
Redman worked with a speed trainer this past offseason and dropped a little weight in the process. He talked again Wednesday about why he did that.
“I just wanted to get a little quicker, a little faster, I worked on that this whole offseason and hopefully it paid off for me,” he said.
Redman can get paid off another way should he win the starting job and play well until Bell is ready to return as he is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent at the end if the season if he isn\’t signed to an extension between now and the start of the regular season.
Fellow running back Jonathan Dwyer, who is the same situation as Redman is as it relates to him also being a free agent following the season, tried to stake his claim for the starting spot last week against the Redskins as he rushed for 68 yards on 14 carries when he relieved the injured Bell. Redman, however, knows with two preseason games left that there\’s still a competition for the starting job.
“I came to compete for a No. 1 spot,” Redman said. “I come in and I take my job seriously, its the reason why I\’m here.” I\’m a professional and I come in and I prepare each day, each week like I\’m a starter.”
