The Pittsburgh Steelers are out of Latrobe and back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, also referred to as the South Side Facility. We are already into the regular season, where everything is magnified and, you know, actually counts. The team is working through the highs and lows and dramas that go through a typical Steelers season.
How are the rookies performing? What about the players that the team signed in free agency? Who is missing time with injuries, and when are they going to be back? What are the coaches saying about what they are going to do this season that might be different from how it was a year ago?
These are the sorts of questions among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked, though there is rarely a concrete answer, as I’ve learned in my years of doing this.
Question: Will Morgan Burnett play again before the bye week?
Starting strong safety Morgan Burnett has trended backward for the second straight week, beginning practice at the start of the week as a limited participant only to fail to practice the following day. It’s rare that a player goes from limited, to none, to full over the course of a week, so the odds of him playing on Sunday seem to be low for the moment.
The Steelers have two games left before they hit their bye week after playing six games. Burnett has missed the past two with a groin injury that he has been dealing with for a while. Given the nagging nature, there seems to be a good chance that the coaching and training staff will hold him out for a while in the hopes of him getting fully healed.
In his absence, the team has gotten an extended look at rookie first-round pick Terrell Edmunds, who has started three of the first four games, though Burnett did play in the opener rotationally and in sub-packages.
He has been on his own for the past two weeks, however, and that has proven to be an adventure. While he did record an interception, he has made a number of significant mistakes that have led to big plays in coverage, and has missed some tackles as well.
The Steelers brought in Burnett to start this year, and for Edmunds to start in the future. So far, neither of those notions have gone as planned, with the veteran sidelined with injuries and the rookie seemingly somewhat in over his head, too much being put on his plate too soon.
