The Pittsburgh Steelers had their second padded training cap practice of 2020 on Tuesday and unfortunately the team suffered a few injuries during the session at Heinz Field
According to head coach Mike Tomlin after Tuesday’s practice, rookie guard Kevin Dotson (knee( and tight end Dax Raymond (ankle) both suffered injuries during the session.
“Both guys are being evaluated,” Tomlin said. “Don’t know the extent of it. Kevin Dotson had a knee injury that’s being evaluated. He was able to walk off, but he is being evaluated. And Dax Raymond looked like he rolled his ankle there at the end of the competition period. He’s being evaluated as well. Hopefully we’ll get those guys back to us sooner rather than later, but we acknowledged that bumps and bruises unfortunately are part of this process. We got to work our tails off and try to be as professional as we can in an effort to minimize as much as that as we can.”
Later during his press conference, Tomlin confirmed that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger helped Dotson off the field after he was first attended to by the team’s medical staff.
“He’s a teammate, man,” Tomlin said of Roethlisberger’s actions. “He’s been there. He’s been down on the field before, he knows the fear associated with that. Dotson’s a young guy trying to make this football team and oftentimes the fear of the injury is worse than the injury itself. And he just is just doing what considerate thoughtful leaders do, in terms of helping him work through that.
“Obviously the medical experts handle the injury itself, but a guy in his position can relate to some of the things that maybe emotionally Dotson’s feeling when faced with what he was faced with today.”
Several other players sat out Tuesdays practice as well and that long list includes tight end Eric Ebron, cornerback Joe Haden, guard David DeCastro (undisclosed), tackle Alejandro Villanueva and wide receiver James Washington (lower body). Some of those players were given veteran days off per Tomlin.
“We rotated a few veteran players out today,” Tomlin said on Tuesday. “We’ll be doing that some throughout this camp and we’ll spread it out among the veteran group. It’s not only about the preservation of the veteran player, it’s probably more importantly about the accelerated maturation of the younger guys.
“When you give Ebron a day off, you get to see more of some of the young guys at the tight end position, for example. When you give Villanueva a day off, you get a chance to see more of the young tackles play their position. So, we’ll continue to do that. It’s dual purpose, it’s good for all parties involved and it aids the evaluation process for us.”
After missing Monday’s camp practice for personal reasons, Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey was back at work on Tuesday.
