The Pittsburgh Steelers will open their 2017 regular season Sunday on the road against the Cleveland Browns and on the surface, the team is fairly healthy entering that contest.
During his Tuesday press conference, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin recapped the health of his team entering Week 1 and only deemed two players as potentially being listed as questionable later in the week.
“We feel really good,” Tomlin said. “We’ve got some guys that you could probably characterize as questionable. Guys that have missed time. Guys like Mike Mitchell and guys like Steve Johnson, but were optimistic about all parties involved. We’ll watch and monitor the guys that have dealt with things, a myriad things, whether its recently, or largely through the preseason, and we’ll make those necessary decisions as we get close to game time.”
Safety Mike Mitchell, who has been sidelined all preseason and most of training camp with a hamstring injury, was able to practice some on Monday. It will now be interesting to see if he is listed as a limited or full participant on Wednesday when the team releases their first injury report of the week. If Mitchell is ultimately held out of the Steelers opener against the Browns, either Robert Golden or the newly acquired J.J. Wilcox will likely start in his place.
As for linebacker Steven Johnson, who was re-signed on Monday after being cut on Saturday, he is also reportedly dealing with a hamstring injury that he suffered during the team’s second preseason game. That injury prevented him from playing in the final two preseason games.
Coach Tomlin previews Sunday's regular season opener in Cleveland, discusses Le'Veon Bell and more. pic.twitter.com/xGIQBHxpbD
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 5, 2017
