Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin delivered a positive update Tuesday on defensive end Stephon Tuitt during his weekly press conference and now we’ll wait and see if hes ultimately able to play Sunday in the team’s Week 3 road game against the Chicago Bears. Tuesday night, Tuitt was a guest again on ESPN 970 Radio and was asked to give an update on the bicep injury that he suffered early in the team’s Week 1 win over the Cleveland Browns that prevented him playing Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
“Yes, we are getting the strength back,” Tuitt said. “We had a great week last week in recovery. The trainers, everybody’s been great. Everybody’s been putting in a full effort, including myself, on and off the field and we’ve got a high chance to get ready to play this week. So, my preparation this week is to get ready for a game. We’re not going to know that until Friday, but we’re going to do everything we can to make sure I’m ready. At the end of the day, you have to be comfortable and be ready to play and make sure you’re ready to defend guys off of you.”
Last week during his interview, Tuitt talked about how he needs to be able to get himself back to a point where he can defend himself and on Tuesday he was asked to further explain what he meant by that.
“My position is as very physical position,” Tuitt started. “So you have more than just 300 pounds of force. You have 600 to almost 1200 sometimes if the tight end comes in with it, or the running back with the force that he’s running behind a double-team. So, it’s just being able to hold that up sometimes and being able to deal with the torquing and turning and just getting acclimated back into the game again.”
Tuitt was later asked if it’s mostly a feel-thing with him at this point when it comes to his rehab or if it’s something that’s measured that will ultimately decide if he’s ready to return Sunday against the Bears.
“It’s a feel thing and they definitely measure it, too,” Tuitt said. “That’s most important. Everything’s a measurement, because they want to see where you was before, where you are now and what we’re trying to get to. That’s the process that we’re doing and right now, everything is leading up towards a successful week. Hopefully it stays that way and we’re going to do everything in our power to keep it that way.”
Tuitt was then asked to compare where he is now to where he was this same time last week when it comes to the overall condition of his arm and strength in it.
“It’s a lot better,” Tuitt said. “The confidence is in it, it’s a lot better. The weights that I was throwing around today was tremendous. Way better than I was last week. So, that’s what’s awesome. Just having that ability to be able to say I’m able to do this stuff again and get back on the field and do the same thing that I was doing before.”
As positive as Tuitt sounded Tuesday night about his chances of ultimately playing Sunday against the Bears, he still refused to guarantee that he will.
“At the end of the day, I need to make sure I’m doing what’s best for me and my family and also long term jeopardy for this game,” Tuitt said.
The Steelers first injury report of Week 3 will be released after Wednesday’s practice has finished. If he’s, at worst, limited on Wednesday and able to practice fully by Friday, he’ll definitely have a shot at playing on Sunday in Chicago.
