Coty Sensabaugh took ever snap at right outside cornerback on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns; that is, until he didn’t. The veteran for the Pittsburgh Steelers opened the game as a starter and would have closed it too had he not suffered a foot injured that knocked him out of the contest.
It wasn’t the plan for him to play the whole game—or at least he wasn’t made aware of it. He was previously rotating with Artie Burns roughly once every couple of series, but he told Chris Adamski that they just told him to go back into the game when he normally would have expected to come out.
While this may have been a reflection on Burns’ being late for a walkthrough and that resulting in on-field discipline, we don’t necessarily know. Sensabaugh for his part would not confirm if it is the plan going forward to leave him in for the full game.
“I don’t know; you’d have to ask the coaches that”, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter quoted him as saying on Monday. “I go out there and prepare every day like I am going to be the guy, and whenever my opportunity comes I just try to take advantage of it”.
After reporters continued to ask him the same question, he continued to respond with answers that were a variation on a theme, that being it’s not his focus on whether or not he is going to play every snap; he prepares as though he is going to play every snap regardless of whether or not he actually does.
Perhaps we will learn more today during Head Coach Mike Tomlin’s pre-game press conference in preparation for a big AFC North rivalry game against the Baltimore Ravens in their stadium. You know Tomlin is going to be asked about it, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be in the mood to give a meaningful answer.
When Sensabaugh left the game, it was Cameron Sutton who replaced him on the field. Perhaps if we don’t learn anything directly from the head coach we can glean something from who plays where and when during the week of practice. If Sutton is rotating with Sensabaugh instead of Burns, then you probably have your answer.
Of course that assumes that Sensabaugh is going to be at full health and ready to be a full participant in practice. One thing we should learn from Tomlin today is whether or not he expects the veteran cornerback to be limited in practice.
