Joe Haden’s return to the field might not be the only shakeup in the secondary. It sounds like the Pittsburgh Steelers are considering benching Artie Burns for Monday afternoon’s game against the Houston Texans. Burns told the PPG’s Ray Fittipaldo that Cam Sutton received the first team reps Saturday morning. Burns was sent to the second team.
Burns told Fittipaldo he didn’t know if his role was going to change for the game.
Sutton has impressed in limited action, jumping Coty Sensabaugh while Haden was out. Sensabaugh was dealing with a shoulder injury himself. Burns has flashed, as he always has, but consistency has been the biggest problem for him. He’s blown too many coverages, including allowing a 43 yard gain against the New England Patriots last week.
For the year, he has 50 tackles and 11 pass deflections. He’s yet to record an interception after picking off three in his rookie year.
Sutton told Fittipaldo his practice role has generally been unchanged.
“I’m doing the same thing every week, getting the reps with the 1s and 2s and the scout team,” Sutton said. “It’s pretty much the same every week. I’m just getting where I fit in.”
As we wrote this morning, the Texans’ offense completely relies on its two weapons in the pass game – DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller. They can create big plays and Burns mental mistakes may be too much of a risk for the Steelers in a game like this. It certainly would be a disappointment to see a first round pick sat down but it’s hard to blame the coaching staff for the decision.
Maybe it was just a day for Sutton to get some extra reps. Maybe there will be a rotation between the two. We’ll see what happens Monday.
