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 Matt Feiler play against the Denver Broncos?
It’s looking like the Steelers are going to be without Stephon Tuitt again, not to mention Marcus Gilbert for the fifth straight week. But there is still one question remaining. Will Gilbert’s backup be sidelined as well?
Complicated by the fact that there is no ‘probable’ designation anymore, the ‘questionable’ status of Matt Feiler for Sunday’s game leaves an air of mystery shrouding the next couple of days. Either the second-year lineman or start, or a rookie will be in the lineup instead, that being Chukwuma Okorafor.
Outside of Mike Tomlin choice not to disclose whether or not any players will be limited or inactive in Denver due to the elevation, Feiler’s status is really the only thing currently up in the air heading into tomorrow’s game.
The offensive line hasn’t much missed a beat during the five games in which he has been in the starting lineup, as evidenced in part by the fact that they have won all five of those games. That always helps, needless to say.
While the Steelers obviously drafted Okorafor in the third round because they like his potential down the road, there is also a reason that they opted to start Feiler over him for five games already this season, which is because they think he would give them a better chance to win.
The coaching staff and players have expressed confidence in the 21-year-old should he have to make his first start as a tackle in Denver, but they are still holding out hope about Feiler being out there with them. He was able to finish out the week with two days of practice in some capacity, so we’ll see.
