Despite only rushing for nine yards on eight carries in the Sunday season-opening loss to the Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Isaac Redman might make his second straight start Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“Obviously, he played a bad game, a lot of us did,” said Tomlin when asked if he still has confidence in Redman, who fumbled twice against the Titans. “He’ll be given an opportunity to redeem himself; we’ll see where that takes us.”
Due to the serious knee injury suffered Sunday by LaRod Stephens-Howling that will force him to miss the rest of the season, the Steelers re-signed Jonathan Dwyer on Monday. Tomlin talked about the return of the Steelers former sixth-round draft pick on Tuesday.
“It’s a positive when you can add somebody that knows your culture, what you are doing schematically,” said Tomlin of Dwyer. “We’ll get him back into the fold. He will be a quick plug in there.”
The newest depth chart that was released on Tuesday shows Redman still listed as the co-starter alongside rookie Le’Veon Bell, who continues to work his way back from the foot injury he suffered during the preseason. Dwyer is listed last on that depth chart behind Felix Jones, who saw very limited playing time and no carries against the Titans. Tomlin talked Tuesday about what Jones needs to do in order to get more playing time moving forward.
“He just needs to continue to learn,” said Tomlin of Jones, who the team acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles halfway through the preseason. “Obviously, he hadn’t been here as long as some of the others, being picked up late in the preseason.”
While Tomlin may have hinted that Redman will get the start at running back Monday night against the Bengals, he didn’t come right out and say it. With Jones continuing to catch up and with Dwyer now back in the fold, it wouldn’t be surprising to see either of those two get the start in Cincinnati.
