Will the Pittsburgh Steelers have starting safety Sean Davis for their Sunday night regular season opener against the New England Patriots? It’s hard to say for sure right now following the team’s Monday practice.
According to Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, backup Steelers safety Kameron Kelly said after Monday’s practice that he got first-team reps at free safety earlier in the day due to Davis still dealing with an ankle injury that he suffered during the team’s third preseason game against the Tennessee Titans.
“(Sean Davis) is nursing an (ankle) injury right now, so I am just stepping in and doing what the coaches as me to do,” Kelly said, per the extended report.
Davis had reportedly said immediately after that preseason game against the Titans that he expected to be ready to play in the regular season opener against the Patriots. Monday was a bonus practice day for the Steelers so we’ll now have to wait and see if Davis is listed on the team’s first official injury report of 2019, which will be released at the conclusion of the team’s Wednesday practice.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is scheduled to hold his next press conference on Tuesday at noon to preview the game against the Patriots. He’ll likely be asked about Davis’ injury on Tuesday. If he’s smart, he will play things close to the vest and let the Patriots guess whether or not Davis will ultimately play Sunday night.
Kelly, who originally went undrafted in 2018, signed with the Steelers in April after playing in the now-defunct AAF. During the recently concluded preseason, Kelly played quite extensively on his way to registering 8 total tackles and a forced fumble.
The Steelers currently have just four safeties on their 53-man roster. However, cornerback Mike Hilton did get some work at safety during the preseason.
